


Power Rangers Cosmic Force

by TimelessFool



Category: Power Rangers, Super Sentai Series, Tokusatsu, 宇宙戦隊キュウレンジャー | Uchu Sentai Kyuranger
Genre: Fanmade Adaptation, Gen, Power Rangers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2019-07-06 02:01:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 30,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15876189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimelessFool/pseuds/TimelessFool
Summary: The universe is in peril. A long forgotten enemy has come to rule the stars with an evil fist, and it is up to a new team of Power Rangers to stop him. (Fanmade Kyuranger Adaptation)"How far can you run from your past?"





	1. A Fallen Lion

 

The Power has failed. Five years ago, a being called Jack Matter united the forces of evil for an all-out assault on the universe. His conquest is near completion. Earth and others like it were quickly pacified in the initial attacks. Most forms of resistance are scattered amongst the stars. It seems that evil has finally triumphed. However, all does not appear to be lost …

 

* * *

 

 

The planet Horath, once freed from its former masters of gear and cog was now enslaved by masters of silver and black. The insignia of Jack Matter flew high above the smoke-filled skies of the newly conquered world. Legions of silver headed Entroopers and their plantlike commanders sorted through the survivors as Photon Fighters screeched through the skies blasting away at ruined skyscrapers as a show of force. Any last bit of resistance from the populace was silenced by the constant stare of Entrooper crimson visors. As the civilians were being herded for processing, three distinct twinkles of various colors from above caught their eyes.

 

In an instant, multiple laser blasts surged forth and shot down several Photon Fighters while others crashed along the surface to avoid the laser fire. Following the rain of lasers were three machines in the form of animals; a black bull, a green chameleon, and a yellow swordfish. As the three machines descend closer to the ground, one figure from each of the machines jumped and landed to the ground.

 

As the three figures rose from the landing they made, the Entroopers have a better view of their opponents. From the swordfish ship was a black Aquitian, easily distinguishable by the purple bumps that adorned his head. From the chameleon ship was a shorter human girl with her blonde hair done in a ponytail. And emerging from the bull ship was the largest of the three, a black and silver robot, six and a half feet tall, with the head of an ox. All three also brandished blue jackets although the robot has his draped over one of his shoulders.

 

As the Entroopers and Plantoids began to brandish their weapons the girl, with a smirk, spoke, “Time for our grand entrance. Think that these guys can handle it Velspro?”

 

 The Aquitian was the next to speak, “Don’t get overconfident Millie. These guys can still pack a punch. Got anything to add Aurox?”

 

The bull just gave a laugh, “Have you forgotten? The heroes always win in the end. Shall we?”

 

The other two nodded in unison and all three pulled out an orb and with a flick of their thumbs activated the orbs’ power. Setting the orbs into the open socket of their wrist blasters on their left hand they yelled out, “Cosmic powers, Activate!”

 

All three shot blasts straight into the air, and in a sudden blinding flash all three appeared in their ranger uniforms.

 

“Tauros Power! Cosmic Black!”

 

“Chameleon Power! Cosmic Green!”

 

“Swordfish Power! Cosmic Yellow!”

 

With that, the three rangers began to engage the enemy. All of them rushed in, taking down some of the Entroopers with their hands while also using their blasters for the ones that were out of reach. They were doing well for their debut fight. Their melee with the foot soldiers was interrupted when they received a call from a female voice.

 

“Rangers, need I remind you that you’re trying to make a good impression? It would be better getting the civilians to safety as oppose to being caught in the crossfire.”

 

The Green Ranger was the first to respond, “Oh sorry Wren. We’ll get right on it. Let’s focus guys.”

 

Her compatriots nodded at that and thus the three begin the evacuation process.

 

Just outside of the planet’s orbit was a peculiarity that seemed distant from the fighting. A space scooter was lazily heading towards the planet with its sleeping occupant none of the wiser. That was until the scooter’s computer blared out a call that caused the rider to wake up. “Now approaching the planet Horath. Repeat. Now approaching the planet Horath.”

 

The rider became elated with the news, “Ah, fantastic! A chance to train with some of the best warriors in the universe.” As he said that the scooter decided that now was the time for the engine to stall. With the scooter near the planet’s atmosphere, the only direction it could go was down. As the rider tried in vain to steer the scooter for a more ‘proper’ landing, he verbalized his thoughts, “Oh now’s the time for you to die on me.”

 

Back on the surface, the Rangers were escorting a group of civilians to a cluster of ships until they came across a rather large amount of Entroopers. Knowing that with the large group of civilians behind them the Rangers could not guarantee everyone’s safety. So, the three simply held back and try to prevent the Entroopers from coming any closer. After a tense few seconds, everyone was looking up as they heard the mixture of a sputtering engine and someone yelling hurtling towards them. Fortunately for one side, the falling object wiped out a large swipe of Entrooper forces.

 

Immediately, a figure sprung up, helmetless, with a hand running through his short brown hair. To the surprise of everyone, not a scratch can be seen on the person. “Woah! Kinda got lucky with that landing huh?”

 

The Black Ranger tilted his head at the sight of the strange figure, “Uh, what was that all about?”

 

The Yellow Ranger however saw a golden opportunity, “Doesn’t matter! Now there is an opening for the evac! Everyone, stay close to us!”

 

With the Yellow Ranger charging forward, the other two Rangers quickly understood what he was saying and followed suit. While the Entroopers were trying to regroup from the crash, the middle of their formation was open for the Rangers as they fought while the civilians followed close behind. At the same time, the man in the scooter turned towards the commotion and was delighted at what he saw.

 

“Power Rangers! Now they would be ones who know how to get into a fight.”

 

With that he grabbed his sword from the back of the scooter and joined into the fray. As he swung against some of the Entroopers he managed to get behind the Green Ranger who was a little surprised at the stranger, “Hey, who are you?”

 

“The name’s Lance.” As he turned to face the Ranger, his sword took out three Entroopers before resting on his shoulder, “And I would like to join you.”

 

* * *

 

 

Sometime has past and the Rangers decided to bring Lance onto their ship, not helped by the fact that Horath was not the best place to stay and his scooter was busted. In the meantime, Lance is sitting in the main room of the ship eating sometime that Velspro cooked up once they returned, figuring that spending a long time on a space scooter would have made the spacefarer rather famished. Lance seemed to enjoy the meal, “Thanks for the food, it was rather delicious. It sure beats eating some stale rations.”

 

Velspro appreciated the response, “Glad you like it. It’s nice to have a second opinion what with Millie liking anything I make and Wren and Aurox here not being able to eat any of it.”

 

Aurox took a second from training on the punching bag to explain himself, “It would probably be edible if there was some more oil in it.”

 

“That would just destroy the whole thing.”

 

“But it would be served with a side of justice.”

 

“That does not make any sense!”

 

As the two continued to bicker, Millie and a pink haired, feminine looking robot arrived onto the deck. The robot, with tablet in hand, turned towards Lance. “Ah Lance. I managed to fix your scooter as best as I can. You should be able to land to the nearest inhabited planet and be on your way from there.”

 

“Thanks, but that is not my intentions,” Lance said while getting up, “I want to join you guys.”

 

Everyone else, in a mix of surprise and disbelief, spoke, “What!?”

 

“Yeah. I’m aiming to be the best warrior in the universe just like Orion. Initially I figured that I would train alongside some of the universe’s toughest. But with you guys around, why not join the greatest monster slayers out there?”

 

The pink haired robot, Wren, had a quick response, “You can’t just join the Rangers on a whim. You need to have a Cosmic Orb first.”

 

“Cosmic Orb?”

 

“Yes. They’re artifacts that activate when the universe is in great peril. When Jack Matter conquered the universe, the Orbs started to appear and found their way to their proper owners; Aurox, owner of the Tauros Orb, Millie owner of the Chameleon Orb, and Velspro, owner of the Swordfish Orb. Together they form the last hope for the universe. Together they form the Cosmic Force Power Rangers.”

 

“Impressive,” Lance remarked. However, something about the team seemed off to him. “Although, I noticed that you guys lack a Red and Blue Ranger. So that must mean you’re missing a few members.”

 

Wren quickly fell from feeling proud of herself to twiddling her fingers. “W-well, that is correct. We’re short six Rangers before the team is complete, so we have the Orb Detector installed into the ship to look for the rest.”

 

“So that settles it then. I’ll go find one of these Orbs and then I’ll be able to join the team.”

 

Millie quickly intervened. “Finding an Orb isn’t that easy. They are scattered across the universe. And it took five years to get the three of us. Who knows where the next one’s going to be.”

 

“Shouldn’t be a concern. I’ve traveled 200 planets by myself without any trouble. What harm is there trying to find an Orb along the way?”

 

That last bit piqued Velspro’s interest, “Wait. You managed to travel that far without getting caught by any Entroopers?”

 

At that remark, Lance just put a hand behind his head and laughed, “What can I say? I’m just lucky like that.”

 

Suddenly a dining sound can be heard throughout the deck, coming from a globe-like compass placed at the main desk in the room. There appeared to be a flickering, glowing arrow that was pointed towards the back of the ship with a set of coordinates.

Aurox was the one to verbalize what most of the ship was thinking, “A new Cosmic Orb has been found.”

 

Lance was just elated at the news. He didn’t have to wait long for his chance to join the Rangers. Grabbing his sword, he declared, “Fantastic! Now to grab myself an Orb!” And with that, he sprinted out of the room and towards his scooter. It took about a second for everyone else to process what had just happen. However, Wren was there to snap the others back to reality. “Well don’t just stand there. Go after him.”

 

The rest were quick to respond, “On it!” And so they ran to catchup with Lance.

 

* * *

 

 

Not so far away, a Capital-class Drillship floated through space with its commander Lord Nergal in tow. A new commander, he wanted an easy victory on Horath to court favor with Jack Matter. However, the presence of the Rangers proved problematic, as that would mean notifying Jack Matter on growing opposition to his rule. With a kneel and a hand on his staff Nergal began the conversation, “Milord. I have come to bring status on my conquest.”

 

A hologram of his master appeared before him. Before him was a figure accentuated by the sheer size of the hologram towering over the commander. The being was adorned in armor that was adorned with faces and wings that formed drill like tips at the end. His face both intelligent and sinister looking with bright yellow eyes. And his bare chest and head was etched to appear to be parts of the brain.

 

The being in the hologram awaited the commander’s report. “Ah, Lord Nergal. How goes the invasion of Horath?”

 

“The invasion is going as planned,” Nergal calmly assured him. Although he was trying to stop the trembling that came with the following news. “However, there was a complication. There appeared to be reports of Power Rangers during the attack.”

 

Jack Matter’s eyes boiled with rage once he heard the statement. Power Rangers. More of them. While he was aware that he was unable to account for all of them. The fact that there were does that dare to confront his forces publicly. That would lead to further complications. He bellowed his new orders to Nergal with such fury that the transmission room rumbled in his wake, causing Nergal to fall to the floor. “Find these Rangers and destroy them! They must not be allowed to grow in numbers!”

 

Nergal, quickly try to straighten himself all the while giving a quick response, “At once my lord. It will be done.”

 

* * *

 

           

Having gone to the coordinates the Detector displayed, Lance was confident that he had found the location of the Cosmic Orb and potentially Ranger powers. Granted, he wasn’t sure which Ranger the Orb belonged to, but if it would allow him to join the team, he didn’t care.

 

The same couldn’t be said about his scooter as the engine sputtered and die again. As the scooter began to plummet towards the planet below, only one thing came to Lance’s mind, “WWRRREEEENNNNN!!”

 

Fortunately for Lance, the scooter crashed landed towards one of the many forests on the planet, so the thick canopy broke his fall. That still didn’t stop him from hitting head first to the ground.

 

It wasn’t long for Lance to return to consciousness, and not a moment too soon as he saw a pair of clawed feet coming towards him. Slowly pushing off the ground with both hands, Lance looked up and was able to have a clearer picture of the approaching figure. The figure was not what he expected as the figure was a hunched, blue, wolf-like person with scales instead of fur. His face covered in strange white tattoos and the only true hair the being had was white, shaven except for the top, and shortly tied behind his head. Seeing the figure with sword in hand, Lance quickly realize that he might be in trouble.

 

The wolf-like figure snarled at Lance while pointing his sword to Lance’s face, “Why are you here?”

 

Lance only gave a quick response, “I’m just looking for something and then I’ll be on my way.”

 

The response he got began with a sword swing, “There’s nothing here worth looking for. Now, get out of here!”

 

Lance barely managed to grab his own sword to deflect the attack aimed towards his head. A duel soon escalated between the two with Lance trying to reason with his opponent, however he was not willing to listen. Eventually the two made their way towards a beach with no clear victor between the two. At the same time, the Rangers manage to catch up and see the fight.

 

Millie, with a tired sigh, was the first to comment, “Guess we have to stop these two from causing any more harm.”

 

She was only stopped by Velspro, “Wait a minute. They’re probably not in the mood to stop. It is best for them to tire themselves out first.”

 

The two fighters continued to clash swords. However, Lance noticed his opponent’s right side being undefended, and took the initiative by punching him across his snout hoping for a knockout blow. After the punch, Lance noticed that his opponent was hiding something around his neck. As that something flew from the opponent’s collar it was clear that it looked like a blue orb. Once his opponent landed on the ground from the punch, Lance was in between breaths while asking, “You have a Cosmic Orb. All along?”

 

“So that what this thing is?” the wolf asked while holding the Orb in his hand. “If this is what you were looking for then you can have it.”

 

Lance simply refused, “I am not going to take something that is rightfully yours. Since you found it that must mean you are supposed to fight against Jack Matter.” He then try to offer a hand to the wolf.

 

“Fight Jack Matter?” Lance’s opponent asked, before swiping his legs to throw Lance off balance. Landing on his back, the next thing Lance saw was his opponent pointing a sword at his face. “You didn’t think I have already tried that? You didn’t think that my world stood by as the universe fell? I am the last survivor of the Sirian colony Lyca. This Orb took me away from my brothers that died in battle. Because of this thing I did not face an honorable death. I am no more than a coward! Now leave me alone!”

 

Lance could do nothing but to take it all in before slowly getting up. As he did, he tried to find a way to comfort the wolf, “I’m sorry that you lost your world, I’m truly am. I can also sympathize for not being able to fight when needed. But that should not be an excuse to do nothing! You are granted an incredible power few dream of possessing, and yet you decide to hide away while others suffer. That’s more of a cowardly act than anything else!”

 

The Sirian can only stare in silence while the three Rangers off in the distance was only able watch and speculate about what is going on. With the waves crashing behind the two swordsmen, the only things the Rangers could have make out were the yelling. Suddenly Aurox noticed something approaching from the horizon, “Uh oh. We got company.”

 

That company being a Capital-class Drillship and a swarm of Photon Fighters. Coming from the capital ship was Nergal’s voice which could be heard across the beach, “Entroopers! In the name of Jack Matter, destroy the Power Rangers!” As he said that a large assortment of Entroopers and their Plantoid commanders landed on the beach to do battle.

 

The Rangers quickly morphed and ran towards the enemy. The Sirian on the other hand was quick to hide out in nearby bushes, still considering himself not worthy to fight again. Lance focused on fighting the enemy with the Rangers, until a Photon Fighter, trying to ram the Rangers, flew too close to the ground and causing Lance to be caught onto the ship’s gun barrel as it flew away.

 

The Fighter, having noticed the stowaway, decided to accelerate through the atmosphere and expose him to the airless void of space. Holding on and aware that without his helmet that he will be losing oxygen, Lance was thinking to himself, _No, this is not how this is going to end. Not when there is a universe to save_. At that instant, he noticed a red glow that was emanating higher in the sky. That glow being a series of meteors falling onto the planet. The largest one striking the fighter and causing Lance to land on it with both of his hands holding on as the fighter was destroyed.

 

While trying to shield his eyes from the heat and debris, he saw a small red orb in front of him being held up by a series of green lightning. Lance was amazed about what this orb was implying. “A Cosmic Orb. Ha! Talk about luck!” The moment he grabbed it, a wrist blaster suddenly appeared, attached to his left hand. And as he placed the orb into the blaster’s open slot, he instinctively knew what to say, “Cosmic powers, Activate!”

 

The combatants on the beach now noticed the meteor shower heading their way and tried their best to dodge them. Unfortunately for the Entroopers, the shower took out a large chunk of them in the ensuing inferno. And in the fiery blaze of the meteor landings stood Lance, now cladded in the uniform of a Red Ranger.

 

In glee he shouted, “Haha! Leo Power! Cosmic Red!”

 

Millie did not take it well, “What! He’s the Red Ranger!?”

 

Aurox had the opposite approach, “Ha! Another warrior in the fight for justice!”

 

Velspro was more pragmatic, “We’ll deal with it later. Right now, we have to beat these guys.”

 

With that the Rangers pulled out their weapons. Lance brought out a new sword while Aurox, Millie, and Velspro brought an axe, a rapier, and a dagger respectively. Eventually the ground forces were reduced enough that the Rangers can focus on the fighters above. Aurox commanded Millie and Velspro to get into their Zords for aerial support while he deals with the remaining ground forces.

 

As such, Millie and Velspro tilted their orbs towards one end of the morpher, summoning their Zords seemingly out of nowhere. The two then jumped towards their Zords and begun to take out the Photon Fighters.

 

Seeing the two Rangers fight in their Zords caught the Red Ranger’s attention. “Cool. Now how do I summon my own Zord?” However, that would probably have to wait as a Plantoid swung its club cannon behind him. While blocking the attack, the Orb on his blaster slightly tilted which caused the blaster to light up. Suddenly, the ground began to shake as a roar was heard. The noise came from a giant machine in the shape of a lion that materialized in the sky. Lance was then flown uncontrollably towards the giant machine as it blasted off to join the aerial fight.

 

This left Aurox alone to face the remaining ground forces which turned out to be too much to hold off, even for a giant robot like him. Off in distance, the Sirian was in awe the entire time the Rangers fought, all the while hearing the Red Ranger’s words to him over and over again.

 

This caused something to stir in the Sirian as he was finally able to come to terms of what his thoughts have come to accept. “If they fight with the same power as I have, then I’m a fool if I am just going to standby and do nothing.” With that, he yanked the Orb from his neck and saw a blaster morpher appear on his hand. Having heard the Rangers morphing call, he knew what he had to say, “Cosmic powers, Activate!”

 

Suddenly a Blue Ranger landed on top of an Entrooper and started to beat him using his claws. He then managed to fight his way towards the Black Ranger who was thankful for the help, “Excellent work, though I don’t think we’ve ever got your name.”

 

“Fenris.”

 

 “Aurox. Now let’s beat these vile goons and join up with the others.”

 

“Right.”

 

* * *

 

 While the Photon Fighters were numerous, the Green and Yellow Rangers were able to hold their own against them. That was until a Plantoid decided to grow massive above the Drillship and use his club cannon to snipe the Zords. With no care if the blasts hurt its compatriots, the monster was able to send the two Zords spinning in space all the while the giant monster gloated at his seeming victory. However, the Plantoid’s gloats were stopped when the Red Ranger manage to shoot some missiles at it.

 

Lance afterwards exclaimed, “Don’t worry guys I got you.”

 

Millie was a little annoyed at this for one specific reason, “Of course he gets the bigger one.”

 

Lance was pressing all sorts of buttons and levers to get the two towards him, until he accidently nudged his blaster which caused the Chameleon and Swordfish Zords to link up as if they were arms. Lance amusingly ask, “Woah, did you guys know about this?”

 

Velspro responded, “It was mainly just the three of us, so the answer is no. Look, the Plantoid is heading towards the moon.”

 

“Might as well finish this right?” Lance shouted.

 

He then hears Aurox on the intercom, “Not without us you’re not.” As such, heading their way was the Tauros Zord and another one that looked like a mechanical wolf.

 

It was Fenris’s turn to speak, “This is Fenris. Finally time to do something with these powers don’t you think?”

 

Lance instantly recognized who was the Blue Ranger from the voice. “Glad to have you with us. Now let’s form a true Megazord!”

 

As they landed on the moon, the Tauros and Lycan Zords linked up to form the legs and now the Constellation Megazord, they were truly ready to face the Plantoid. With the Plantoid not fully aware of the new Megazord’s capabilities, the best it can do was swing its club cannon as the giant machine was coming at point blank range. Dodging the attack, the Megazord countered it with claw and horn kicks before using its Chameleon arm to snatch the cannon away, followed by the Swordfish arm stabbing the Plantoid countless times. The fight ended with the Megazord powering up its final attack, a slash of its sword, which caused the ground in front of it to break apart. This sent the monster to its fiery doom as the Megazord turned around heroically.

 

* * *

 

 While the Drillship managed to flee the battle, Jack Matter was not taking the news that Nergal brought well, “I thought that someone like you could take care of this problem. Perhaps my faith has been misplaced.” the hologram then started to power up a black energy ball in one of his hands.

 

Nergal tried to reassure his master, “Wait milord. This was only a minor setback. I will be able to complete the job just as you instructed. I just need a little more time”

 

Jack Matter contemplated for a moment before lowering his hand, “Very well. The Rangers have yet to come into full strength. Make sure that does not happen or I shall see to it your replacement.”

 

 “Of course, milord.”

 

* * *

 

 The Rangers have arrived back into their ship and were ready to welcome in their newest members. Both Lance and Fenris came onto the deck, all cleaned up and now wearing the blue jackets like the other Rangers. Lance was the first to speak, “Fantastic, now we’re officially part of the team. Only four more Orbs and we can take the fight to Jack Matter himself.”

 

Velspro gave a counterpoint, “Slow down for a minute. The enemy knows who we are now so we can’t just blindly charge in every time. Also, there’s still work to be done outside of getting the others.”

 

Fenris then reassure the new Red Ranger, “Even so, with more Rangers it just means more trouble that we can cause to Jack Matter.”

 

Aurox chimed in for support as well, “And as the good guys, we will reach our goal in the end!”

 

With that Lance, Fenris, and Aurox yelled over each other.

           

“To Victory!”

 

“Arwhooo!”

 

“Justice will prevail!”

 

 Millie can only put a hand over her face, “The saviors of the universe and they can’t even chant in unison.”

 

Lance then interjected over something that has been bothering him, “Oh by the way Wren you didn’t fix my scooter at all.”

 

This sent the robot into a rage. “I’m a pilot robot not a mechanic! And besides, I said it could take you to the nearest planet and you decide to overshoot it!” As she was saying this she chased Lance around while using her tablet as a bludgeoning tool. It took the strength of everyone else to calm her down.

 

* * *

 

On the planet Onyx, two figures were sitting together in a tavern bar. One looked like a human with tanned skin and brown hair, writing down something on a piece of paper, while the other was a gold-plated robot that was looking at a tablet while going over the news. The robot quickly swipe through the articles until something piqued his interests. Two humans, a Sirian, an Aquitian, and a robot, all with hefty bounties on their heads.


	2. The Pursuit for Silver and Gold

 

The planet Onyx. Long considered to be the safest haven for monsters and those that consider themselves evil. No matter the species or the language there are two basic rules one must abide to on this world; shoot any do-gooders on sight and all giant monster attacks must be conducted outside of the city limits. Neither of these were of much concern to two individuals sitting down by the tavern bar. While the tan skinned human of the pair was muttering to himself over the layout of a building, his robot partner was clearly distracted by what he was seeing on his tablet screen. A recent addition to the bounty board but still a rather tantalizing offer. Five targets, each with a bounty of five million Space Bucks. Immediately, a flurry of ideas came to the robot’s mind of how to spend it all. He could probably use it to rule over a world in secret, open a food stand somewhere out in the cosmos, or maybe just hoard it over for the sake of it.

Eventually his mind drifted to the idea of asking for the reward in gold to match the color of his body, feeling almost giddy just from the thought of it. He could see it now, him swimming in an endless sea of molten gold or even better, rolling around on a solid gold bed in the middle of a shiny, solid gold room. The only disconcerting thing about his dream however was an ever-increasing banging noise coming from the walls.

Sadly, for the robot, it was his partner returning him back to reality with the tapping of his pen onto the robot’s head. The robot tried to swat at the human only to see him still focused on the layout in front of him. “Why did you do have to do that?” the robot annoyingly said.

“Because you got distracted as oppose to helping me plan this heist.”

“Well I’m truly sorry for keeping you away from your scribbling but I happen to stumble upon a much more alluring acquisition,” the robot eagerly said while tilting the tablet screen towards his partner’s direction.

Curious, the human looked up from his blueprints to glance at the robot’s tablet before giving him an unconvinced look. “Power Rangers. Really?”

“Hear me out Ray. This bounty just came out an hour ago, so not everyone is aware of it. I figure that if we act quickly, we can catch them before someone like Ringbah or the Mollusk Bunch gets their hands on them. And therefore, get our hands on that sweet, sweet gold.” The robot was not able to hold back his enthusiasm.

Ray however was unconvinced, “I don’t think it’s worth it.”

This just caused to robot to begin begging and inching closer to his partner in crime, “Please Ray, we don’t even know how much what we’re stealing is actually worth. They could be worthless or worse, duplicates! At least with these guys we have a guarantee of riches.”

Ray pushed the robot back with his pen before retorting, “Do I need to remind you Jin that these guys would most likely be well armed as well as not hesitating to use their giant robot to flatten us? We wouldn’t be able to afford even the barest essentials to fight them.”

Admitting defeat, Jin just put his head down and went back to working on his part of their heist. Ray then try to comfort Jin with one thing he knew could work, logic. “Besides they could be anywhere in the universe right now. What are the odds of them showing up around here?”

 

* * *

 

Things were quiet on the deck as Wren sat in the pilot’s seat while reading through her tablet. As the ship was mainly assigned to distress calls or when a new Cosmic Orb is discovered, it generally spends most of the time slowly cruising through space. As such after the first year Wren quickly became bored of constantly having her hands on the wheel waiting for any signal to change course and was in desperate need to not be bored.

To cope with her newfound free time, she turned to an alternative; checking the news to see if anything special would require Ranger assistance. She’s also developed a habit of talking to herself while she’s alone, “Let’s see. ‘Brave Soldiers Killed by Multicolored Goons: By Lustria L. Lapland.’” Wren couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes considering the writer’s tendency to side with Jack Matter. “Really need to blacklist her articles. ‘Theoretical Uses for Zyrium Powder Waste.’ No. ‘Mysterious Matador Spotted in Marina.’ Could be a possible lead. Command has been trying to find new allies. However, getting to Marina from here would require going through the Tarnhelm Veil and there’s nothing important in the Veil. There’s nothing important in the Veil. There’s nothing …” Wren had to rub her eyes after that, not being able to concentrate. “Must have been staring at this for too long. Probably best to take a break.”

Shortly afterwards, the door leading to the deck opened revealing the Rangers clearly in a disheveled state and out of breath. Hoping that the Rangers were more productive than they looked Wren asked, “How did training go?”

Lance was unnaturally chipper given his untidy appearance, “I think it went well. Fenris and I were able to take down the simulated monster in record time.”

Millie chimed in in between breaths, “That’s because you two rushed into attacking the thing while the rest of us did the actual objective and the hundred drones.” She then placed the torn drone arm she was carrying onto the table as proof of her testament.

Fenris tried to intervene, “But the monster was clearly the bigger target. Who knows what problems could have happen if he wasn’t taken down quickly. While at the same time, you three took care of the mundane stuff. I would say teamwork achieved.”

Velspro wanted to contradict him while at the same time look for an ice pack for his bulbous head. “That’s not how this is supposed to work. You can’t just try to run off on your own for glory while the rest of us ty to do the actual work. On top of that, it’s going to be harder when the other four Rangers show up.”

“And it just got a lot harder to find them,” Wren interjected before sliding her fingers across her tablet and swished them towards the table. Instantly a hologram appeared with the Rangers’ heads on display followed by a hefty bounty for each of them. “You’re wanted criminals now.”

Fenris seemed to be happy about this compared to most of the room, “So Jack Matter considers us to be a major threat now? Perfect.” Aurox nodded in agreement.

“No, not perfect,” responded Velspro, “This would just cause any money hungry fool to come after us now.”

Lance, with a surprising bit of sensibility, concurred, “No big deal. As long as we stick to the quieter worlds there shouldn’t be much trouble.”

It was at that point that the Orb Detector lit up indicating the detection of a new Cosmic Orb. With it, the Detector revealed the direction as well as the coordinates for where the Orb would be.

Lance was ecstatic with the news, “But that could wait once we get the new Ranger. I’ll go on ahead and try to be back in no time.” And with that he sprinted towards the door.

Just like last time, everyone else in the room was mostly speechless although this time Millie did try to verbally stop him to no avail as he already left the deck.

Velspro briefly sighed, “Does he even know where exactly the Orb is?”

Nervously Wren answered, “Not exactly. But the Zords are linked to the Detector whenever it finds an Orb so eventually he will.”

With that Millie just dropped her head, “Come on. Let’s make sure our fearless leader doesn’t hurt himself.”

“Uh, you guys should know that the Orb’s location is not the most pleasant place for us.” Wren followed that up by showing the team where exactly the Orb is located, and it just caused all their hearts to sink. Out of all the places in the universe for a Cosmic Orb to be, it had to be on Onyx.

 

* * *

 

As Lance began to approach the planet, he thought to himself that maybe he was a little too rash about going off on his own. Not only was he going to a planet that has an eternal open season on Rangers, but he is flying there on his Zord. At this point he might as well have a sign with the reward money around his neck. But he was still committed to finding the newest Ranger for the team and he cannot return empty handed, even if it would be nearly impossible. He would just now have to do it carefully while avoiding too much attention.

Looking at the town far off in the distance he began to think out loud, “Let’s see. I could at least take this off,” speaking about the jacket which while looking good on him, has the symbol of the Resistance on it so probably best to leave it behind. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the morpher on his hand. Not only would he be severely disadvantaged without it, he can’t seem to take it off even if he wanted to. Wren did mention that it could only be taken off while on the ship. “If only this thing was smaller or at least can change size,” he sighed. The best he can do was to find a rag from the Zord and just wrap it around his hand like a cast. He can’t do much to hide his face or his short, brown hair aside from trying to smudge it with dirt. With that done, all he can now was smile, head to town, and hope no one would recognize him.

Going through town, Lance noticed that it was less frightening than what he was led to believe. Every human child grew up on horror stories of how Onyx was where all their worst nightmares came out to play. Of how there was a fight at every corner or how they eat pets for breakfast. But to be honest, the place was not that bad. Sure, there was the occasional bar fight, Lance nearly ran into one that crashed into a window in front of him, but past that there were still looked like decent people just trying to make a living. However, he cannot become distracted. He was there to find the Ranger that was detected and then leave as quickly as possible. The only problem was finding this person. “Where does one find a do-gooder in a place that hates them?”

Just as he said that, he heard a commotion down the street. Hearing the screeches of a couple of Entroopers, Lance readied himself for a confrontation, however he soon realized that there was no need. He saw two figures, a human and a robot, flying on what seemed to be gliders being chased by Entoopers who were trying to shoot them down. As the two beings made a sharp turn towards the main road, the human threw a stone at one of the water troughs lining the road sending water in front of them causing it to break. As he flew past the growing puddle, the robot dipped down and extended one of his fingers that began to spark with blue lightning. The Entroopers were too preoccupied looking up towards the two that they did not realize the water beneath their feet until the robot’s electricity took them out. With that the two made their way towards the ground.

Seeing the pair taking out a group of Jack Matter’s forces was enough to convince Lance to begin his search with them. As he approached them, the tan human bickered with his robot companion. “Are these gliders really necessary?”

“You always have to prepare for everything remember? Besides, you said we needed backup plans for this.”

“Yeah, but I was expecting something less noticeable.”

“Trust me, these are still useful. Just need the right opportunity.”

“Hey,” Lance interrupted. “I was wondering if your guys can help me.” The two turned towards the voice and saw Lance coming towards them. The human responded cautiously. “What exactly do you help with?”

“I am looking for a…” Lance just now realized that he needed to be careful with what he had to say. Sure, they just took out some Entroopers, but who’s to say that they could be entirely trusted. If he said anything about the Rangers, then his cover could be blown and then it would be him versus an entire planet. He just wasn’t ready for that. “I need to talk to someone about some stuff I lost. I’m new around here so I don’t really know where I am supposed to go”

The other human did not seem to buy it, however the robot seemed to be gaining interest. “May I ask what these items exactly look like?” Lance was happy to oblige. “Oh, just some small spheres that fit into your hand that’s all.” He was pretty sure no one can tell what they were from that.

The robot was quick to answer. “Hm. Give us a minute.” With that the robot threw his arm around his partner to turn away and began whispering. “I say that we go help him.”

His human partner blinked at that. “Don’t we have a heist to plan. Plus, I’m pretty sure that this guy is lying. And terribly I might add.”

The robot grinned and went to grab his tablet. “I feel like we’re both looking for the same thing.” He then showed his partner the Wanted poster for the Rangers from before and tapped the Rad Ranger’s portrait to enlarge it. The robot’s partner took a quick look at the picture and tried to look back at the stranger but was stopped by the robot. “Don’t look at him. It will cause suspicion.”

“Ok so he’s ‘might be’ a Ranger. What are you suggesting? It’s not like we could try capturing him in front of everybody.”

“I’m proposing that we take him with us. We would have extra muscle with us to take out anymore guards. He seems gullible enough that he would follow us to do it anyway, and plus if we get caught we could either push him towards the authorities to escape or get the reward.”

The human took a bit to assess what the robot said. The logic seemed to be sound, but something gnawed in him that something wasn’t right about tricking the stranger. But just as he said, it would probably be best to do the heist with some extra protection, so his logical side won out. “Sounds like a good idea.”

The robot was filled with glee just thinking about the gold they could get if they do this right. Also, the increased likelihood of the heist working, but to him it was mostly the gold. He turned around towards the Ranger and began the introductions. “Well of course we would help you. But first some intros are in order. I’m Jin. This is Ray. If you’re looking for something, odds are it’s in the Governor’s palace. The man is just in love with getting his hands on anything that may be of value. As a matter of fact, we were going that way ourselves. We… apparently misplaced our glider licenses so we would have to reregister them. Hence the guards following us earlier.”

Ray seemed perplexed at that last part. “We did?” Jin’s response was a quick elbow to his side as a way for him to shut up.

Amazingly Lance still bought it. “Great. The name’s Lance by the way.” He then extended his hand for a handshake which Jin returned. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

 

* * *

 

At another part of the town the rest of the Rangers have managed to land, seemingly without being detected, and were walking through the streets trying to find their missing leader. Given the situation, they managed to get some decent disguises; Millie and Velspro mostly wore cloaks to hide their heads and morphers, Fenris relying on a bandana and a cap to avoid recognition. Aurox on the other hand got the short end of the deal. Considering his size, the best they could do was drape the largest blanket they could find around him and hide his head within a cardboard box. Based on the muffled sounds coming from the box Aurox was not happy about it at all. “This is absolutely humiliating. Heroes should not cower in the face of sheer adversity. Also, my nose itches.”

“We already went through this. Everyone here will be out for our heads. It would be best if we just grab Lance and the Orbs and leave quickly.” Velspro reiterated. Sadly, not much could get through the robot’s mind outside of heroics. But right now, he’s got another problematic Ranger to deal with. “Any luck there Fenris?”

Fenris gave a quick sniff before he responded. “‘Fraid not. This many people in this town is making it very difficult. Shouldn’t be much concern though, pretty sure Lance can take care of himself.”

“If you ask me he seems to always go off without thinking for a sec-,” Millie was then distracted by the troll like doll that was sitting on one of the store windows. “Ooo, is that a Mr. Ticklesneezer?”

“Millie, focus.” This was the one part of the job that Velspro disliked, babysitting. Sure Millie would readily follow orders, but her being the youngest means that she can still go off topic, Aurox would often play six degrees of being a hero, Lance already shows that he’s more of an act first kind of guy, and Fenris seems to be more like Lance’s faithful companion than anything else. Wren, while willing to help, often tends to avoid any drama that comes up. Velspro just hope that the two new Rangers could help bring some order.

A yelp from Fenris drew the other’s attention. “I got Lance’s scent. He’s following one, no, two people. And he’s actually coming this way.” Fenris turned out to be correct as he saw Lance further down the street, being led by another human and a robot before going further away from the Rangers.

The Rangers tried to yell at Lance to hold up to no avail before trying to catch up with him. That was until they found out why Lance was running away. Nergal somehow tracked them here and has brought some Entroopers with him. And unfortunately, the disguises weren’t working on him. “You think you can just come here without me noticing Rangers? No, for I am the great Nergal, and you will tremble before me!”

Aurox at that point thought that it would be a great idea to charge in, throwing off his disguise, and attack Nergal. Fenris quickly followed suit with sword in hand. Millie and Velspro took a glance at each other before realizing what the best plan was. And that plan was push everyone back into the alley where Nergal came from. If they were going to have to fight in a planet full of villains. They would at least do it away from as many people as possible.

* * *

 

At the same time, Lance, Ray, and Jin were still on their way to the Governor’s palace. While Jin was searching for their planned entrance into the building Lance was inquiring Ray about the two. “So, how exactly did you two meet?”

“Basically, we were both on a prison ship and he found me while trying to escape. I found myself in a dark cell with no idea of how I got there or what was happening, and he just so happen to open my cell door.”

Jin interjected, taking his head off his tablet. “Aw, you flatter me.” When retuning towards the screen he then quickly added the truth of what happened. “It wasn’t like I didn’t the way out and just kept pressing doors. Nope, not like that at all.” Jin made an impression of clearing his throat to try to divert the two’s attention of what he just said. “Anyway, Ray was able to find a way out of the ship and we hooked up ever since. After that, we just bounced around doing whatever we liked.” Obviously hiding the fact that most of those adventures involved pulling heists.

Even so, Lance was still impressed by the two. Two other travelers, going around the universe doing what they like. “Sounds like you two have been on quite the adventures. You must’ve met plenty of interesting people along the way.”

Jin was trying, and failing, to hold off his laughter. “That is not the case at all. We tend to attract people who would want to take advantage of us. In one way or another, they always tend to double cross us. So, we’ve mostly just stick with the two of us.” Jin obviously left out the part of it becoming a game of who would double cross who first.

Lance turned towards Ray for his comment. “And you’re fine with this?”

“Of course. I mean sure everyone we meet would want to leave us with all the trouble, but we’ve always relied on each other to get out of them. And I know that he would never leave me to fend for myself. Jin’s the only one that I can actually consider a friend.”

“Even so, it is not a bad thing to rely on other people more often. They might just want to help.” As Lance said this, he was clearly trying to avoid the fact that he was ignoring his own advice by going off on his own and not relying on the other Rangers.

Jin then stopped as they have finally reached their destination. “Ah here we are! The Governor’s Palace. It’s probably best that we avoid the main entrance. Figured the guards would not like to see us considering we took down some of their friends.”

While understanding, Lance was a bit peeved that they couldn’t just take the direct route. “So now what?”

Jin reassured Lance on the situation. “Relax. There’s a side entrance that is rarely used. We just go through there.” The robot led the way as usual while making sure that the guards weren’t looking at them. When they arrived towards the side door, as stated, there was no one there. Jin was happy that he was right, until he found something that would throw the whole plan off. He turned towards Lance and Ray to tell them the dilemma. “We have a problem. That door has a keyboard lock, and my electrical trick could take forever to find the combination. So, we need a new plan going in.”

Jin leaned towards Ray to make up a new plan on the fly, leaving Lance out of the conversation. “This is what I’m thinking. We use the gliders we got to fly onto the roof and enter in through one of the windows. Would that work?”

“Not sure. We’ll need to factor in how often the guards pass by or look at our direction. Not to mention figure out which window to use and how we are not going to draw attention while on the gliders.”

Jin patted Ray’s head, “Don’t worry. Give it enough time and you’ll be able to figure it out. Now with the deal with Lance-” The two then heard a set of button presses followed by an opening door. Looking towards where the sound come from, it turns out Lance went off and figured out the door combination on the first try. Jin was clearly flabbergasted at this. “How did you figure it out so easily!?!”

Lance only gave a shrug. “A bunch of these passcodes tend to just be either one, two, three, four, or backwards.” Jin could only stare there in disbelief. It took Ray to drag him towards the door. “Don’t worry about him Lance. He just like to do things with more flair.”

Closing the door behind them, Jin resumed the job of looking towards the tablet finding the correct room. Still not happy about Lance’s dumb luck, but there are bigger priorities now. The three then made their way towards a large room fully of displays of various items in glass boxes. Searching through them, Jin saw what he was looking for at the far end; a glass box displaying two stone orbs. Grabbing Ray and Lance, he led them to the prize. “I don’t suppose those are what you are looking for?” Jin asked directly to Lance.

“Yeah, actually they are.”

“Well soon enough, they’ll be safely in our… I mean your hands. Just give me a minute.” Releasing the humans, Jin went on to break into the glass cube. By focusing the electricity within him to one of his fingers, he was able to create some heat that he used to draw a circle onto the glass. Careful to grab the cut-out glass from falling, he used his other hand to grab the orbs.

Ray felt that something didn’t feel right about this. This just seem a little too easy. Dark lit room, no guards, not even some sort of motion sensor on the individual displays.

Lance was also felt that something was off for a different reason. “Wait, didn’t you guys came here needing to renew you’re glider licenses?”

Jin stopped for the moment. This was it. The jig was up. Might as well confess since with his hand inside the box, there was not much he can say to convince Lance otherwise. “Funny thing about that-” He then saw a bunch of red dots darting around his body. The same thing happened to Lance and Ray.

The room then lit up brightly and it was at that moment the three realized that they were caught. Above them was a second level full of turrets pointed at them and at the center was the Governor not looking happy to see them in his prize room. “What do we have here? Three intruders wanting to take my stuff?”

Jin quickly took his hand out of the box and try to talk his way out of this. “Oh Governor. Surprise to see you here. The thing is that my friend and I were in the neighborhood and we just so happen to see this Red Ranger running about.”

Lance turned towards Jin and gave a quick response, “What?” Ray meanwhile just stayed silent. Too many times he had realize that the robot was better in talking others down than him.

The Governor, with great interest, tilted forward on the railing to observe further. “A Ranger you say?”

“A Red Ranger, if I need to repeat myself,” Jin slowly took out his tablet, trying to not get shot, and opened the page of the Ranger’s Wanted poster. “As you can see, the genuine article. And to think that he could get away with just some smudges on his face.”

“Can you explain then why you were trying to still my treasures?”

“Uh. He turned towards us thinking that we can help him steal your priceless treasures your Excellency. We were just playing along so that we can deliver him to you. Besides, what worth is there for me and my friend? Two lowly thieves against a Power Ranger. I’m sure Jack Matter would reward you immensely with him compared to the two of us.”

Humming for a bit, the Governor was a bit intrigued. Sure, he could probably get a reward for the other human and robot, but the wealth from one Ranger could overtake any reward for the two thieves combined. Also, he was ruling over a planet known for its crime. He could just grab them later. “I might consider this offer.”

Jin was relieved, his bluff worked. “Excellent. Now if you excuse us, how’s about rewarding us with one of your trinkets?”

“How about this? You hand me the Ranger and I consider not turning you two into Swiss cheese?” Sure, the two delivered the Ranger, but they were still caught in the act of trying to steal his stuff. Also, the robot ratted themselves as thieves.

Jin looked down at all the red dots pointed towards him and gave a small chuckle. “You drive a hard bargain dear sir, but we would gladly accept. Come on Ray.” Jin headed towards the door while Ray was more hesitant. While this was a regular double cross they have done before, Lance did not seem the kind of person that would be their typical victim. He seemed friendlier and genuine compared to the others. However, he went along with Jin because at least he was still able to get out alive and free.

This just left Lance hands up, covered in the turrets’ targeting lasers, and having no idea of how he would get out of this.

Catching up with Jin, Ray had a second thing in mind, “That’s it? We’re just going to leave with nothing?”

Jin laughed at his partner’s confusion. “Oh Ray. Do you have so little faith in me?” He held up the two orbs in-between in fingers, so proud of himself. “Managed to grab them just when the lights came up. Now we just got to hop onto a ship before the Governor can even notice.” While Jin was gleefully ready to leave, Ray was not in the same mood. “And we’re seriously going to leave the Ranger behind?”

Jin stopped in his tracks and tilted his head back, not believing what he was hearing. “You’re kidding right? We both agreed that we would drop him at the first sign of trouble.”

“I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem right.”

“Of course it does. It’s just like all the other times we’ve done this. Just you and me. Man and Robot. A matched set. The two of us against the universe. Anyone else would just cause trouble.”

It was always with that line. And as Jin pointed out at times before it usually was true. But now it just seems to defy all previous logic to Ray. “No, he seems different. More like a … friend.” With the utterance of that word, Ray had made of his mind. “And as a friend, it is my job to help him.” Ray then turned around and ran back from where he came.

Jin was left in shock. His partner in crime ran out on him. He wasn’t quite sure what he would do. Eventually that shock slowly turned into anger and he thought he had his answer. “Fine! What do I care? More gold for me!” Jin resumed walking out of the building muttering as he went, “What does he know? Not like he was the first one to leave. Let’s see him take on those turrets himself.” He just stopped after that last sentence. Now he wasn’t sure why at that moment. He knows that he can just leave. But all he can do was look at the Orbs in his hand and remember what Ray mentioned earlier, “Jin’s the only one that I can actually consider a friend.” Jin can only let out the closest he can to a huff when he realized what he wanted to do. “Dang it.”

Back in the treasury room, the Governor was in glee looking at the captured Red Ranger. “Oh I wonder what I can get out of you. Maybe a new planet to rule? A drillship to command? Or maybe Jack Matter would make me part of his inner circle!” while the Governor was spouting the possible rewards, Lance was still standing there hands up and looking a bit bored. Granted, being aimed at by dozens of turrets would limit his options. But it was at that point, something came up in the Governor’s mind. “Actually, would it be better if I present you alive or dead? I might not get as big of a reward, but on the other hand your type are known to be a hassle.” In a shrug, he made up his mind. “Might as well just let Jack Matter sort it out.”

It was then that a different voice shouted out into the room, “There would be no sorting out today!” Lance and Governor turned towards the direction of the voice to reveal Ray. Lance was surprised by the turn of events. “I thought that you were just going to leave me here.”

Coming to Lance’s side, Ray gave his response. “I can’t do that to someone that I might call a … friend.”

While thinking it was nice to feel the sentiment, Lance was bothered by one thing. “That’s great and all, but I don’t think that’ll help with our situation here.” It was then that Ray looked down only to see half of the tracking lasers move towards him. Putting his hands up, Ray just then realized that maybe this wasn’t the best of ideas.

The Governor was having none of it. “If you want to die with your so called friend then be my guest. Another criminal taken care of anyway.” With a snap of his fingers, the turrets began to wind up. Ready to fire on the two humans. Ray grabbed Lance and threw him back, trying to take the blunt of the turret fire. Fortunately, the next sounds that he heard was of the turrets spurting before turning themselves off. The Governor was expectedly livid. “What? How is that possible?”

It was then that everyone heard metal knocking from one of the turrets. As they turned to where the sound came from, they saw a familiar shape of a golden robot. “Having all of your turrets connected to each other and sharing the same password? I expected more of a challenge.” Jin jumped off the second floor and joined the humans. Lance was clearly not amused this time around. “Don’t worry. There is no more backstabbing from me. I’m mostly here for this guy” Jin then wrapped his arm around Ray. “Besides, someone’s got to keep an eye on Ray here. And if it involves helping out those he considers his friends, then so be it.”

Suddenly, a green glow appeared behind the robot. It turned out to be the two stone orbs as it was revealed when each one flew in front of Ray and Jin. Not knowing what else to do, the two grabbed the orbs in front of them. This resulted in the appearance of wrist blasters on their left hands. While the two were a bit confused of what happened, Lance was just elated. “Alright! We got two new Rangers!”

The Governor on the other hand was not in a celebratory mood. His capture plan just went up in smoke and now he has three Rangers to deal with. “One was trouble enough. Now there are three of you? Screw this!” When he turned around to escape, he pressed a button to reveal Entroopers descending from the ceiling and surrounding the three.

Lance was quick to pop out his own Orb. “Don’t worry you two. Follow me and we can get out of this. Ready?”

“It’s the best plan we got. Jin?”

“Random people wanting our heads? Just a regular day for us.”

Following Lance’s lead, Ray and Jin activated their morphers to reveal their new found Ranger powers with Ray in a silver uniform and Jin in a gold one.

“Balance Power! Cosmic Gold!”

“Serpent Power! Cosmic Silver!”

Forming his Ranger weapon, Lance quickly spouted out his order. “Now to beat these guys quickly and grab the Governor before more trouble comes.” He then charged into the mass of Entroopers. Jin, following suit formed a sword from his Ranger weapon as well. Unfortunately, it turned out to be heavier than it appeared to be. It took him a few weapon combinations, and a few lucky hits on Entroopers, to get the perfect weapon for him, a crossbow. Ray had little trouble finding his ideal weapon which was a sickle. And so it took no time to take out the Entroopers and pursue the Governor.

It took a bit but finally the Governor made it outside. Sadly for him, the three Rangers managed to catch up to face him. Running out of options, he resorted to his last one. “Try beating me when I tower over you!” With that, he grew to massive size and ready to stomp the Rangers. Quickly Lance summoned his Zord and was followed by Ray and Jin, who’s Zords took on a more humanoid shape. All three managed to get out of the way before the Governor’s fist landed onto the ground

A little disoriented, Jin tried to contact Lance. “This is still new to us, so any ideas fearless leader?”

“We could form the Megazord, but it would take five of us to do it. If only the others were here.”

It was then that Lance received a very angry call. “Bout time you showed up!” When he was able to regain some sort of hearing, Lance responded. “Millie? Where are you guys?”  
“Running for our lives down here!” For as it turns out the rest of the Rangers were able to beat back Nergal. The downside was that it drew the attention of a good portion of the town. So it was safe to say that it was not the best of situations. Except for Aurox who had to be constantly dragged away from the angry mob. “We’ll be with you in a sec.” With that, the other four managed to summon their Zords and fly away from their pursuers.

Noticing two new Zords alongside them, Aurox spoke. “I see that you managed to find two new heroes for our quest. A job well done.”

Fenris was happy to reinforce that sentiment. “Leave it to our leader to get the job done.”

“I still say that it would have been better if we all did this together,” Velspro sighed thinking that they really need to work on their teamwork. “Let’s just take this guy down so that we can leave.”

Lance was quick to respond. “Fine by me. I think it is time to test what the new Zords can do.” With that, the Constellation Megazord was formed, with the Taurus and Lycan Zords forming the legs and the Balance and Serpent Zords forming the arms. Millie and Velspro were left on standby to provide additional support.

At first, an exchange of energy fire commenced between the Rangers and the Governor’s energy gun, causing damage to the surrounding buildings. However not much damage was done directly at the two giants as the Rangers’ standard attacks weren’t effective while the Governor’s flurry was blocked by Jin’s Zord using its disks as shields. With that failing the next attack was a tail swipe which did succeed, knocking the Megazord to the ground. Trying again with his energy gun, the Governor was stopped when Ray used his Zord’s serpent configuration to grab the Governor’s arm and forcibly make him lose his grip on the gun. With the Megazord managing to stand up again, they were prepared for the next tail swipe as Ray once again used his Zord to grab the tail this time and launch their opponent into the air. It was then that the Rangers powered up their final attack in the form of Jin’s disks forming rotating buzzsaws that was thrown to destroy the Governor.

The Rangers were prepared to celebrate their victory, only to be interrupted by a random laser blast onto the back of the Megazord. Wondering where it came from, the Rangers turned around. While relief set in that there wasn’t another giant monster, Velspro just realized something. “I don’t think we really lost the mob behind us.” Then everyone looked down. Just as predicted, there was a giant mob of angry monsters and other residents looking back at them. A bunch of people willing to take them down for the reward money. Not to mention that they just conducted a giant fight in the middle of town.

What immediately followed was a quick succession of monsters enlarging themselves and chasing the Rangers out of town. To be safe, the Rangers disassembled the Megazord and flew straight away from the planet. Afterwards on the way back to the ship, all the Rangers made a quick agreement, they were never returning to Onyx again.

 

* * *

 

On a distant planet, a mysterious figure covered in robes sat on top of a rock overlooking a barren desert. There was nothing that caught the stranger’s eyes while he fidgets around with a small device in his hand. The wind began to pick up sand and dust causing the stranger to prepare to shield himself. And as the wind passed through, it caused the cloth around the stranger’s left hand to change position, revealing a peculiar wrist blaster attached to his hand.


	3. An Orange Vendetta

Things were mostly quiet aboard the Rangers’ ship. Wren told the team that they ever expecting a transfer rendezvous with another ship, so they were going to have to wait a bit for things to be set up. As a result, the Rangers were just passing the time. Lance, Fenris, Millie, and Velspro did it by playing a video game against each other. Jin did it by working on his new paint job, deciding that painting parts of his body in the color of the Rangers’ jacket made more sense for him than wearing an actual jacket. Ray’s job was there to rein him in whenever Jin decided that he painted either too much or too little of himself. Aurox on the other hand did what he would usually do on his time off, practice on the punching bag to hone his skills.

As the mechanical bull punched the bag, the more his mind drifted away from the other Rangers mingling with each other and towards a particular night. A night in the rain with him cradling a dying man who reached out to the bull before giving his parting words, “I’m sorry that I left you unfinished.” With the man’s last gasp, Aurox could only feel rage as he curled his hand into a fist and slammed the ground beneath him.

It was then that Aurox snapped out of his daze, as he found himself back on the deck in front of the punching bag. Only to find that he misplaced a punch on his right hand and hit the wall, leaving behind a noticeable hole. Looking and testing his hand to assess any damage, he could only detect that the fingers involuntarily wanted to close themselves into a fist. It was then that he heard Millie’s voice aiming at him, “Are you alright there?”

The bull turned around to see the rest of the Rangers looking at him concerned as silence fell onto the deck. “Yeah. Just missed the bag was all. Shouldn’t be a problem after some recalibrations.” Silence continued to follow as Aurox grabbed a screwdriver to do so. However, a quick glance told Aurox that the Rangers weren’t buying it. Turning from them, Aurox reassured them, “Like I said, it’s nothing.”

The team then heard a booming voice coming from down the hall. “I’ve been gone for three weeks and you guys already double your numbers? I should probably leave you guys on your own more often then.” Everyone looked towards the door when it opened, revealing Wren and another figure. This figure was in the form of what could be best described as a humanoid, purple lizard with small white spikes that acted as if they were sideburns, along with two large white horns protruding from the back of his head. In one hand he was carrying a large suitcase, while on the other was a cane topped with a dragon’s head. And on top of it all, he was wearing a large overcoat with a large amount of fur around the collar.

Upon recognizing the figure, Millie quickly shut off the game, to the slight annoyance of the other players, before standing straight and giving a salute. “Commander on deck.”

Velspro was more relaxed and took Millie’s arm down. “You know you don’t have to do that.”

Wren went on to introduce the new Rangers to the new arrival. “Everyone, I would like you to meet our commanding officer, Mr. Drake Pendros.”

“Now, now. Commander or sir would be just fine. Only my mother calls me mister. Anyway, I have come bearing gifts.” Pendros made his way to the table to place the suitcase. “Took a bit of convincing towards High Command, but I finally managed to get these back.” Spilling the contents onto the table revealed a collection of multicolored orbs. “The rest of the Cosmic Orbs that we have.”

Lance was searching through several of the Orbs, in awe of what each one can do. Jin on the other hand was less than amused. “Wait, so we’re going around the universe finding these Orbs when we had them the whole time?”

Wren interjected, “Well the thing is that these Orbs are more like powerups that need the Ranger ones to work. It’s always the important ones that have to be tracked down.”

Pendros just stared at the robotic girl for stealing his lines. Wren could only do her best to pretend that nothing was wrong. Pendros then just continued to address the team, “Anyway. I got a mission for you.” He then pulled up a hologram to accompany the briefing. “We’ve been getting reports of Jack Matter converting some of the drillships into ground-based platforms. We have no idea what exactly what they are burrowing for, but it is safe to say that they’re up to no good. There is an isolated ship far from traditional Jack Matter centers of power. I want all of you to observe and report anything suspicious. Any questions?”

The team spoke in unison, “No sir.”

“Good. Then we should leave immediately. Wren, prepare the ship to jump.”

“Yes sir.” Wren saluted and then went back to the pilot’s chair. In a few button presses, the ship’s windows were filled with extending white lines where stars used to be as the ship jumped to its destination.

 

* * *

 

 

Sometime later, the Rangers reached at their destination and have set up on top of a hill that had the drillship within sight. All of them were lying on the ground observing the machine. Although with only one pair of binoculars, they shared it amongst themselves. And it there was one thing all of them could agree on, it was that this mission was a lot more boring that they expected.

“It’s been two hours and nothing interesting has happened on the ship,” Jin said.

“That’s not true,” Velspro responded, “The green Entrooper and the white one have changed positions.”

“There’s a green Entrooper?” Fenris asked.

Millie answered. “Yeah, you can tell by the stripes running up their body.”

Fenris took another look through the binoculars. “All I see are a blue, white, and yellow one.”

Millie had to do a double take. “Wait Fenris, you’re colorblind?”

Fenris just gave her a shrug.

Ray made his way into the conversation. “To be fair, Lycan Sirians do have higher rates of red and green color blindness.”

This led to Millie to have a realization. “So that’s why you used to call Velspro and me as Yellow 1 and Yellow 2.”

Lance finally got into the conversation. “Hey, ok if I grab the binoculars?”

Handing the binoculars down the line, Fenris wondered, “Got something new?”

“Not really. Saw a weird rock formation a while back. Just realized now that it is someone in a cloak.”

The rest of the team turned to get a closer look of where Lance was looking at. And with that, Velspro grabbed the binoculars to confirm the sighting. There was a person down below, most of it covered by a cloak that matched the coloring of the surrounding rock but clear enough if given a closer look. “Yep, that is a person. What are they doing down there?”

Jin gave an answer. “Maybe he’s here enjoying the scenery.” This just caused all of the Rangers to turn and look at Jin skeptically. Given that there was nothing here but grey rocks, it wasn’t surprising.

Aurox saw it differently. “Looks to me that someone is waiting for a fight.”

Ray cut in. “No, doesn’t look like it. Even with the getup the Entroopers should have sensed them by now. Add into the fact that there is nothing else on this planet could mean th-. And they’re staring right at us.”

The Rangers took a quick glance down to see that what Ray said was true causing all but Aurox to quickly lower themselves into the hillside to hide from sight. Velspro was the first to speak. “Great, now what do we do?”

Ray responded. “Best idea is probably relocating to another location.”

Jin issued a complaint. “Really? More observation? No offense but this has been as entertaining as watching grass grow.”

“Look, Commander Pendros gave us an order to observe, and it is probably going to take longer than two hours to do it. How about we get out of here quietly before we attract anymore trouble and once that is done we can divide up the time each one of us has to go and watch?”

The other Rangers nodded quietly considering that no one else had any other ideas. Lance turned to get the last confirmation. “Guess you’re right. What do you say about that Aur-. And he’s gone.” Apparently, the Rangers didn’t keep track of the giant robot and lost him. A quick look around ended with Fenris giving the bull’s direction. “Guys, he’s heading towards the person down below.”

The Rangers raised their heads over the hillside to see just that. “Dang it,” Lance said, “Come on, we got to go after him.” And so, the rest of the tram went over and quickly followed their teammate.

 

* * *

 

 

A short while later, Aurox reached the bottom of the hill while the rest of the team was still a bit behind. At this point, the bull managed to get a better look at the figure sitting on the rock. It appeared that the cloak covered just about everything except for the person’s upper face, hands, and feet. And in one of their hands was a small handheld device with buttons that the person was constantly pressing with their fingers.

Aurox approached the stranger with no subtlety at all. “Excuse me, but I would like to challenge you to a fight.” This was accompanied by a bashing of his own fists.

The stranger, having looked at the robot, stood up and uncovered his mouth before taken off the rest of the hood. The figure was revealed to be a man not much older than the rest of the Rangers. The person had brown eyes and black spiked hair that didn’t seem to move when the wind was starting to pick up. He was unfazed at the robot’s proposal. “And why exactly would I want to do that?”

“Because in the name of justice, only one of us can be here.”

The opponent was just perplexed at what the robot was saying. Then he saw the rest of the Rangers catching up from behind. “Friends of yours?”

Aurox turned around to see his teammates, with Lance ready to reprimand him. “Seriously? You can’t just jump into something without knowing what you’re getting into.”

Velspro can only just stare at their fearless leader at that remark. “Coming from the guy who had to learn that lesson last week.”

“How many times do I have to apologize? Also, we got Ray and Jin out of it, so it was not a complete disaster.”

Before the two could escalate the argument any further, Millie saw something interesting when the wind picked up the stranger’s cloak. “Uh guys, you might want to look at this.” All the Rangers looked at where Millie was pointing at, to find a similar looking blaster morpher attached to his left arm.

Velspro was quick to speak. “You’re a Ranger?”

The stranger was just silent at those words. But there was something else. The back part of his cloak started to rise until the cloak departed revealing something unexpected. It was an orange tail, segmented like an insect with a barb at the end slowly waving in the air.

Upon seeing this, Aurox was reminded again of that night, seeing a barbed tail leaving his sight as it turned a corner. This sent the bull into a rage. “You! You killed him!” Aurox charged at the stranger with Lance quickly following behind, “Hey wait a second!”

Before anyone noticed, the stranger leaped into the air, over Lance and Aurox, to the rest of the Rangers. Before they could get ready to morph, the stranger slashed each of them with his tail and then land behind them. “Things just had to get complicated do they.” After that, the stranger just left leaving the remaining Rangers to assess the situation.

Aurox wanted to keep charging at his opponent, but it took most of Lance’s strength to just barely hold him back. Looking back at the group Lance shouted, “Is everyone okay?”

Jin responded. “I am. Fortunately stings don’t do much on metal. However, the same can’t be said about everyone else.” Lying around the ground were Millie, Velspro, Fenris, and Ray writing in pain. All four were twisting and contorting in place. Upon closer inspection Jin noticed something more troubling as each of them spouted purple lines on the side of their heads and while it could be trouble with his optics, but it looked like the lines were slowly growing upwards. “We need to get them back the ship quickly!”

 

* * *

 

 

Sometime had past and the four incapacitated Rangers were laid down on any flat surface on the deck. The situation was not looking good. Every joint was beginning to tighten and clench together and the purple lines have already past their eyes and were edging towards the forehead. All previous attempts to treat the toxin have not work. The four did not appear to be severely dehydrated at any point and trying to cool them off from the resulting fever seemed to do nothing.

“We need to do something quick,” Wren assessed. “At this rate, the toxin will reach their brain and become fatal. Unfortunately, it seems that the toxin is rare, and we don’t have the necessary medicine on board.”

Jin was standing by Ray’s side throughout all of this. “Well then the answer’s simple; we jump to another world and find a cure.”

“We can’t. We’re too deep in enemy space, and even then, they will not survive past the first jump.”

During the commotion it was Lance’s turn to intervene. “Any chance that the commander can help us? Maybe he knows something.”

Wren looked at him with skepticism before giving a try. “Hey sir. Can you help us out here?”

Commander Pendros, sitting in the pilot’s chair and deep in thought, responded. “No one interrupt. The buttons are flashing one after the other. I think they are talking to me.”

Lance just stared at the absurdity before Wren commented. “He’s like this a lot of the time.”

“At least he’s being more productive than Aurox.” Jin looked around the deck, now realizing that the bull didn’t follow them rushing towards the deck. “Speaking of which, where is the big bot?”

“I’ll go look for him,” Lance volunteered.

 

* * *

 

 

Back down on the planet, the unknown assailant was back sitting on a rock and continued to do what he had been doing for the past few hours; clicking on the little box in his hand at seemingly random intervals. There were two min differences after his encounter with the Rangers; he didn’t put his hood back on, and he was on a different rock. That was until he noticed two figures approaching behind him. One was the Plantoid commander who was left in charge of the drillship. The other was Nergal who was sent to inspect the progress of the ship project while making amends to Jack Matter for not stopping the Rangers. It wasn’t until the two got closer that the assailant was able to make out some of what was being talked about.

“There he is. He’s been sitting around doing nothing the whole time he has been here,” the Plantoid pointed out. Clearly mad of the assailant’s lack of activity.

“Arthro!” Nergal exclaimed, which also got the assailant’s attention. “What purpose is there for you to be in the middle of this wasteland?”

Arthro just turned his head back forward towards the distant fields of blasted rock. “I’m on shore leave. I already notified to my superiors, or did Jack never got the message?”

Nergal stepped back a bit at the last comment. “You know the Lord does not like it when someone takes his name in vain.”

Arthro responded, all while remaining emotionally cold. “He may be all powerful, but he is not all knowing Nergal. Besides he has nothing to worry about. I’m doing nothing wrong out here.”

“Then why did the ship detect seven other lifeforms around you a little while ago?” The Plantoid pointed out, trying to be smug about potentially catching Arthro in some heinous act.

“Some of the local wildlife came up and I felt that it was an excuse to stretch my legs. One should always be honing their skills.” Arthro reinforced this by waving his stinger tail in a threatening stance towards the Plantoid. “Now if you don’t mind, I would like to return to my thoughts.”

While the Plantoid was still snarling, Nergal obliged and made his way back to the drillship. Eventually the Plantoid followed suit, and when they were out of reach of Arthro’s ears did he begin to converse. “I don’t know why Lord Jack Matter still keeps that human around. If I were him, I would let that one suffer with the rest of his kind.”

Nergal sighed, “If the Lord still has use of him then who are we to judge. Besides, the human doesn’t take orders from him.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lance figured that if Aurox wasn’t at his punching bag then the safest bet was that he was in his room. This also slightly intrigued him as Aurox was probably the most mysterious of the Rangers. At least he interacted well with the others or were able to tolerate him in some cases to get a good impression. Outside of official business or team exercises, Aurox tended to do things on his own. Granted with the amount of time the bull spends on the punching bag, Lance wouldn’t be surprised if Aurox’s room was filled with bodybuilding equipment.

Opening the door, Lance was somewhat surprised at what was in the room. There were some mechanical tools and exercise equipment of course. But what was shocking was that the room was littered with little action figures and posters. All of which depicted various people and aliens dressed and acting like the Rangers. However, these people seemed to display powers far too whimsical for even the more advanced worlds. Some of them even had capes that went all the way down to their feet. Lance couldn’t quite make out any of it.

In the middle of the room was Aurox, back turned towards the door and just sitting. Not quite knowing what else to do, Lance opened the conversation. “We were wondering where you went.”

The bull, seeming somber for the first time, responded back. “Sorry that I acted the way I did. I thought that I could take care of the problem before anything bad happened.”

Lance recalled the incident. It was clear that what history the two shared, it caused the bull to go to a blood rage. Or was it an oil rage? How does it work for robots? “Yeah, was meaning to ask about that. Who was he exactly?”

Aurox turned his head towards Lance, and when he spoke anger was clear in his voice. “That was the man who killed Dr. Ivan, my creator.”

 

* * *

 

 

_Years ago, on the world of Phaedos, an elderly man was working in his lab. Just recently, his latest creation had come to life; a bull robot in the shape of a man. The old scientist himself was not quite a sight to behold. Wrinkles visible all over his face as well as shaggy hair that at various points seemed to protrude out and form like little horns. It was clear that the man was so excited about his creation that he forgone sleep. At least he was still fully dressed; pants and a purple shirt covered by a lab coat._

_While the robot randomly picked up objects from the nearby table to hold and play around, Dr. Ivan was recording his thoughts on the subject. “The latest tests show that Aurox is able to understand written words and commands. He still has not been able to speak properly, but a few more days of verbal exposure should change that. The biggest drawback is that the personality circuitry turned out to be flawed so he can only understand simple concepts not unlike a baby. As such, it seems that he would have to learn things just like a child. I’ll try to find a replacement, but it would be hard to get these days.”_

_The doctor started to turn away to continue to record his thoughts when he heard a cracking sound. Turning around, he realized that Aurox accidently broke one of his tools. The robot, scared that he got caught, tried desperately to put the two halves of the tool back together before the doctor stepped in and stop him. Putting the tool away, the doctor sighed before commenting on the situation, “And it seems that he still doesn’t have full control of his strength.”_

_To prevent anymore tools from being broken, the doctor pulled out a tablet for the bull to use. “Here, maybe you can more use with this.” After pressing some buttons, he showed Aurox what he wanted to show. The bull pressed his finger onto the screen to reveal that tablet contained a wide assortment of scanned comic books. At first Aurox was more enticed with the colorful drawings than the words. After a few presses, he noticed something that clearly stood out at him. It was a superhero holding the villain over his head while shouting, “Justice always prevails!”_

_Aurox was fixed on the image when the doctor came by his side and talked to him. “Hoped that would get your attention. It’s the reason that you’re here. All these reports of evil taking over the universe, I figured that there should be someone out there for people to look up to in these dark times. Someone who can protect the less fortunate and brings justice back to the universe. Do you understand?”_

_Looking back at the image, Aurox tried to verbalize what was needed of him. “J-Ju-Justice. Yes.” With that, Aurox spoke his first words._

_As time passed, Aurox managed to fully control his strength and the doctor decided that it was time to test him out for combat. He done this by having Aurox spar in alley fights as well as local fighting tournaments. Despite its crudeness, it did allow the bull to acquire combat experience and eventually managed to become a big name in the local fighting scene. Using the collected data, Dr. Ivan hoped that eventually Aurox could be the first of many bull robots to protect the universe. If only he managed to find a complete personality matrix unscathed._

_However, that all changed in one night._

_It was raining, and Aurox was returning home after another victorious match. When he turned around the corner towards home he noticed something different. On the other end of the road he saw an orange stinger tail quickly flick its way around the corner of a building and out of sight. When he turned towards the door of the house, he saw it wide open, and from the flash of lightning it was clear that the place was in disarray. Fearing for the worst, Aurox ran towards the house._

_“Doctor? Dr. Ivan!” Aurox took a glance at one of the disheveled rooms before turning around and look at the room behind him, and that was where his worst fears were realized. On the ground was the doctor, crawling on his stomach, with two large gashes the crossed his back. The doctor himself let out a groan and was trying to drag himself closer to the bull._  
_The bull bent down to the doctor’s side and adjusted him to see his face, only to see purple veins prominently spread across his face topped with a web of them across the forehead. “Dr. Ivan please. There must be a way to help you.”_

_“It’s too late for me,” the doctor said weakly. “I’m afraid that it is time for you to go on your own.” While his eyes were becoming weak from the toxin, he was able to see that the bull was shaking his head and muttering ‘no’ over and over. He couldn’t blame him. There was just so much more to do. But feeling death coming for him soon, and as he reached out to touch the bull’s face, the doctor needed to say one more thing. “I’m just, sorry. I’m sorry that I left you unfinished.” With that, his eyes closed, and his hand lifelessly fell to the ground._

_As the rain and lightning continue to pour down, Aurox felt both sadness and anger. The doctor did nothing wrong and yet someone went out and killed him for no reason. In rage, his right hand closed into a fist and slammed into the floor of the house. “I will avenge you doctor. I will rid the universe of the monster who took you away. I will deliver them to justice, even if it leads me to the dark pits of the universe.” It was then that an unnatural light appeared in front of him. green lightning sprouted from the ground around him into a singular point. And after a few seconds, the lightning materialized a small object in front of his face. A black orb with the face of a bull._

 

* * *

 

 

“That’s how I got the Orb,” Aurox said having finished recounting his story. “I have tried to track down the perpetrator over the years without much luck. Now that he is here, I can finally correct that injustice.”

Lance was slightly taken aback by the bull’s story. This was the first time he saw Aurox being somber rather than his usual boisterous self. “I’m not quite sure that’s the entire story.” For some reason, something just didn’t feel right. “He can’t be all terrible. He does have a morpher after all.”

“He obviously took it from its intended user.” Aurox was unwilling to think of an alternative. The orange tail, the same toxic effects that appeared on the Doctor and now the other Rangers just confirmed it.

“You don’t know that.”

Aurox just gave a cold and emotionless response, “He killed the doctor, it’s enough.”

To the surprise of the two, the overhead speakers filled with Wren’s voice. “The commander wants everyone to go back down the planet.”

Hearing that, Aurox shot up and went straight towards the door, completely ignoring Lance while doing so. Realizing what the robot was going to do, Lance turned on the communicator on his morpher while chasing after him. “Wren, tell Jin to come to my position quickly. I’m going to need some help with Aurox.”

 

* * *

 

 

Sometime later, the three remaining Rangers were back on the planet. Aurox was still stomping around looking for the orange tailed assailant. Although, without any actual idea of where he might be, the search took a bit longer than what Aurox was expecting. Lance continued to try to talk the bull down to no avail. And when Jin finally managed to catchup, his idea of trying to physically slow the bull resulted with lance and Jin being pushed to the ground without much effort.

Once the two got themselves back up, they continued to trail Aurox but at a slower pace. All the while Jin was trying to figure out Lance’s logic. “Still don’t know why you’re trying to stop him. If it were me, I would be doing the same thing.” Jin’s thoughts went back to Ray still succumbing to the effects of the poison.

Lance, still though, was relying on his hunch. “I still don’t think that we know the whole story. Besides, the guy has a Cosmic Morpher, that has to mean something.”

“You do realize that there have been Rangers that have gone bad before, right?”

“Even so, would it be better to ask him some things first before blowing him up?”

The two suddenly heard Aurox letting out a loud bellow. Looking slightly ahead of the bull the two found out why, Aurox found his target. Aurox then picked up his pace to charge towards the assailant.

“Crap. We gotta stop him.” With that, Lance went to a sprint to catch up to Aurox.

Jin on the other hand sighed. “Still don’t think this is a good idea.” Jin started to run as well except that he found himself tripping and falling face first to the ground. Jin let out a groan, “What the-” It was then he noticed that his foot was caught on something. Upon closer inspection it seemed to be a handle. Once he pulled on it, it revealed a black briefcase that was submerged in the dirt. Curious, Jin opened the case, “What do we have here?”

 

* * *

 

 

Aurox finally managed to find who he was looking for. The doctor’s murderer right in front of him, and the assailant was sitting on a rock like before. The assailant’s mere presence in front of him made Aurox fume with rage. “Hey, you!” With a clashing of his fists Aurox continued. “It’s time to finally give you the justice that you deserve.”

Arthro, still not giving his full attention, gave a response, “And what would that be for?”

“For killing the doctor.” Reaching for his Orb, Aurox continued. “The only way to repay it is with your end.”

“Wait!” Lance finally managed to catch up. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes I do! For the doctor, the universe will be better off without him.” With that, Aurox placed his Orb into his morpher to get ready to fight. “Cosmic powers, Activate!”

Arthro’s interest had piqued as he slowly stood up from his rock. “So, you’ve come to avenge your creator? I’m afraid that you’re just wasting your time.” With that, he revealed that he had an orange Orb in his hand. One that held an image of a scorpion. He then placed the Orb into his morpher and began the sequence. “Cosmic powers. Activate!”

A blinding light caused both Aurox and Lance to cover their eyes, and when the light faded revealed that Arthro’s morpher was the genuine thing. He was now clothed in an orange Ranger suit with his visor forming the visage of a scorpion. His stinger tail was still visible and seemed to be ready for an attack. And in hand was a spear not unlike the Rangers’ other weapons in design.

Without warning, Aurox readied his axe and charged towards the Orange Ranger. Arthro took a small step back, but he regained focus and was able to block the axe. A few strikes occurred between the two until they started to move away from the initial fight scene.

Lance readied his Orb to try to find someway to stop the two. That was until he heard the loud screeching of Photon Fighters off in the distance. Sure enough, a pair of them were heading his direction, possibly detecting his, Aurox’s, and Jin’s presences earlier. “I don’t have time for this.”

 

* * *

 

 

Back on the Ranger ship, things were getting dire. The four affected Rangers were slowly becoming paralyzed to the point that they were having a hard time to even breathe. More purple lines have begun to circle around the tops of their heads as the toxin started to seep into their brains.

Wren continued to try to help them, but the constant running around has not helped matters. This was further agitated by Commander Pendros still not doing anything. At least with him finally getting out of the pilot’s chair, he could do something right now. “Sir. I would really appreciate it if you can help us right now.”

Pendros turned towards her. “Sure thing. What is it that you need me to d-” He then realized that something was amiss. “Have you done something with your hair?”

Wren felt annoyance when hearing that. Mainly because as a robot her hair is set as it is. “You’re doing this on purpose aren’t you?”

It was then that Jin came through the door with the black briefcase. “Guys! You would not believe what I found.”

Wren was not willing to play along. “Unless it’s a cure, I’m not interested.”

“Lucky that you mentioned that because that’s what this is.” Opening the case, the gold robot procured two vials containing blue liquid. “There’s enough here for everyone.”

The two robots were then spooked when Pendros slammed the table, almost causing Jin to drop the two vials in his hand. “Excellent! Jin, you’ll help me administer the cure.” Pendros then tossed Wren something from his pocket. “Wren, I’m going to need you to give this to the others on the planet.”

Wren had to do a double take on that last order. Rarely if ever has she been able to leave the ship, let alone ordered to. After all, someone had to look over the ship while the others were away. Also going into what could be the middle of a battle unarmed was not what she had in mind. “I-I am suppose to do what?”

“You heard me. Now get to it.” Wren quickly nodded in agreement before making her way towards the door. “Oh, you’ll probably get there faster if you can fly down there.”

Wren raised her eyebrow at that, “You do know I have-” It was then that she had started to see some flashing images. At first, they appeared too fast to get a clear picture, but they eventually slowed down enough to do so. It appeared to be of two birds, one being a light brown predatory bird that was flying higher and higher while the other was larger and white as snow that seemed to be suspended midair. As the white bird began to descend onto a field of fire, an endless swarm of vultures flew down towards it, all filled with insatiable bloodlust and hunger.

The next thing Wren knew, she was back on the deck, hand placed on her forehead as she shook herself from what she just saw. While wondering to herself of what just happened, she heard Pendros talking to her while his back was turn helping the afflicted Rangers. “What was that Wren? You didn’t forget how to fly didn’t you?”

Wren finally snapped out of her thoughts. “Oh, no I haven’t sir. I’ll be on my way.”

 

* * *

 

 

Back on the surface, Lance was struggling to stave off the waves of enemies coming his way. At first, he did fine, even managed to luckily shoot down a Photon Fighter with his morpher. Unfortunately, that just drew in more Entroopers to his location and they’re starting to get the upper hand. Not helped by the foot soldiers starting to use the blasters built into their swords en masse. It got to the point in which he was trapped in a circle of them. Readying his Ranger sword and trying to figure out his next move, he started to wonder how Orion made fighting a hundred enemies at once seem easy.

It was then he heard a screaming female voice that was getting louder with each passing second. Looking towards the direction of the voice he saw Wren flying erratically. It was then that he realized that one of her feet was periodically producing exhaust, while the other one was not doing anything. Wren finally managed to get onto the ground, or more specifically crashed. Which was fortunate as she crashed at an Entrooper that was trying to strike Lance from behind without him noticing. He then helped up his robotic comrade. “Wren, what are you doing here?”

Trying to get rid of her dizziness she spoke weakly. “Realizing that I need more practice with my rocket boots.” Finally managed to steady herself, she was quick to remember why she was there. “Oh right, I was supposed to give this to you.” Unwrapping the object, Lance realized that it was a Cosmic Orb, though this one showed an image that he wasn’t familiar with.

Lance asked, “Do you any idea what this does?”

“No, but best to use it now while we still can,” Wren said quickly when she noticed the Entroopers slowly coming towards them.

Quick to oblige, Lance placed the Orb into his morpher and activated it. Suddenly, an exact copy of Lance in his Ranger form appeared. After a few moments of testing a few things, it became clear that the copy was able to move about on its own. Wren was no less frightened by the implications. “There are too many questions to ask.”

Lance felt the opposite. “Doesn’t matter. Now we have the upper hand. Is that right partner?”

His duplicate gave a thumbs up. “You got it. Now let’s finish these tin cans.” And with that the two Red Rangers charged into the group. While both Lances were able to cut through the Entroopers easily, Wren had to resort with dodging and accidently running into Entroopers that were trying to take a bite out of her. Though to her credit it managed to take some of them down. Once the battle was over, the two Lances gave each other a high five before the clone dissipated into thin air. After that, Lance heard Jin’s voice coming from his speakers.

“Lance, can you hear me?”

“Yay I hear you. Where have you been anyway?”

That just allowed Jin to gloat. “Fortunately for everyone, this magnificent golden robot stumbled upon a cache of antidote for the team so there’s that.” Then that gloating slowly turned to panicking. “Also, I was told to tell you that something big is heading our way.” Seeing a giant shadow overcoming him, Lance turned to see what it was and it turned out to be the drillship hovering close to him and Wren.

Lance then heard the voice of the Plantoid commander blasting into the air. “You think that was the best I can do Ranger? You may have bested my troops, but you won’t defeat me. Witness the true might of Jack Matter!” Suddenly, the entire drillship twisted and turn in the air before landing onto the group revealing itself as a giant robot with parts of it even turning into a spear.

Wren sighed, “Of course it turns into a giant robot.”

Recognizing that this was a fight that he can’t handle by himself, Lance talked back to his communicator. “Jin, please tell me that the others are ready to get into their Zords.”

Jin responded, “Most of us are. Millie needs extra time to recover, and we haven’t been able to get a hold of Aurox. And it looks like its turning its eyes onto the ship.”

“Alright, we just gonna have to fight with what we have. Wren is going to have to stick with me for the time being.” Realizing what he meant Wren nodded while Lance called for his Zord.

 

* * *

 

 

Not so far away, Aurox and Arthro were still fighting with each other. Despite his best efforts, Arthro’s attempts to turn the duel around failed. Aurox repeatedly swung his axe towards him and any attacks from his tail only deflected from the bull’s metal hide. Eventually the attacks were too much as while Arthro tried to step back from the final axe swing, he misstep and fell with his back to the ground. Trying to push himself up, he only saw the head of an axe pointed directly towards him.

Aurox, emotionlessly, spoke. “Confess fiend, and I will make your end quick and painless.”

“What’s there to confess when you already know what happened.”

“So, you don’t deny it.” With that, Aurox readied his axe for the final strike. But that was when Arthro continued to speak.

“Is this what you think the doctor would want? To kill someone in the name of justice?”

“Even so, he would want his death avenged.”

Arthro then asked, “And what of your teammates? Would they want you to run off while they have to fight a greater threat?”

After hearing those words, Aurox finally focused on the ongoing chatter that he picked up in his helmet. It was the others talking about trying to take down a giant robot with the Megazord. Turning his head around, he could see the fight off in the distance. He then realized what he had just done. All his efforts for revenge for the doctor caused him to lose the bigger picture. His actions have caused to Rangers to fight on fruitlessly. And what’s worse, he almost cost some of them their lives. Far from the sense of justice that he was meant to symbolize. He turned to where he left the orange figure, only to see that he was gone. Reaching for his Orb to call his Zord, he only had one thing to say. “This isn’t over.”

 

* * *

 

 

The fight with the drillbot was going nowhere. The bot’s spear also acted as a shield against the Megazord’s sword and buzz saw attacks, and on top of that they just found out that the thing can fire laser beams from its weapon and mouth.

Currently tumbling around after narrowly dodging an attack Lance was desperate for a solution. “Anyone got any ideas?”

Ray was the first one to respond. “We can try to swap Jin and my Zord positions to hold the robot’s weapon in place, but I don’t think it’ll give us time to do it.”

Velspro added to that. “Best chance is to create a distraction. However, Millie is still recovering so we can’t get her to call her Zord.”

Fenris almost had a bright idea. “Wren, how about you fly out there and distract him for us?”

Wren was quick to respond. “I’m not going out there alone against that thing thank you very much!”

Lance followed suit. “There got to be something that can be done.”

It was then they heard Aurox’s voice. “Justice Slam!” The next thing they knew, the Taurus Zord flew in and headbutted the drillbot from behind. “Sorry for the delay. Had to be returned to my senses.”

Lance was just happy to see him. “No problem, you came in just at the right time.” With the drillbot disoriented, Jin and Ray were able to swap positions so that the Serpent Zord formed an arm and the Balance Zord forming a leg. When the bot recovered, it suddenly found its weapon grabbed by a snake’s head and pulled straight towards the Megazord, which was then greeted by a swordfish strike to the face. With that, the bot fell lifelessly before exploding in a giant inferno.

 

* * *

 

 

Sometime has passed and the Rangers have returned to the ship, although Commander Pendros wasn’t on deck with them. Millie finally recovered from the effects of the toxin, but Velspro still made some soup for her just in case. “Thanks for the soup. Though I still feel bad for not being able to help out there.”

The Aquitian put his hand on her shoulder and reassured her. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad that you’re alright.”

Meanwhile, the others were assessing the situation involving their assailant being a Ranger. Fenris was the first to speak his mind. “It’s a shame that one of our own would go and follow the likes of Jack Matter. Another one of his lackeys to get rid of it seems.”

“I still don’t think so.” Lance commented. “All of us were picked to be Rangers. And it’s not like all of us have done things that others would see as questionable. Why is his case any different?”

Ray concurred. “On top of that, there are somethings that just doesn’t make sense.” Although in his case, it was less on Arthro and more on the fact that when the others were sick, the cure just so happened to appear out of nowhere.

Aurox gave his answer. “Because he at least did something reprehensible. He took a good man from the universe. Sooner or later he would have to answer for his crimes.”

Lance got worried. “Don’t tell me you’re going to go search for him again.”

The bull answered. “No. I realized that my quest for revenge blinded me from the bigger picture. That my fight for justice is with all of you to save the universe, not just for the doctor. But make no mistake, if we ever cross paths again, when time allows it, this vendetta will end one way or another.”

 

* * *

 

 

Arthro opened the door and saw Nergal speaking with the giant hologram of Jack Matter. Due to convenience, he had to hitch a ride with Nergal to get off world. Especially since the loss of the Plantoid and the drillbot left him with no alternatives. While he intruded onto the conversation, Jack Matter didn’t seem to mind and continued speaking. “It’s a shame on the commander’s loss, but the data is in safe hands I hope.”

Nergal complied. “Yes milord. A copy was made before his departure.” He then entered the data onto the computer for Jack Matter to receive.

“Good. At least the entire endeavor was not a total loss.” Jack Matter then turned towards Arthro. “And I assume that your shore leave on the planet was productive for your wellbeing.”

Nergal turned angrily towards Arthro while he bowed to the hologram. “Yessir. It’s unfortunate though that the commander died. By the time I heard about it, it was too late.”

Jack Matter simply waved it off. “Circumstances seems to get us away from more important things. Right Nergal?”

Nergal quickly responded. “Uh, yes of course milord. But one can simply see it as just another way to serve.”

Jack Matter let out a small smile. “Is that so? In any case, you are free to hunt down the Rangers again. Though I expect you to take out at least one of them this time. Your chances are getting dimmer.” As such, his hologram faded away.

Nergal turned back to Arthro. “I still don’t buy your excuse. You just so happen to be out of range?”

“I was busy. And besides, it’s no less believable that yours: you two arguing enough for the commander to kick you out.”

Nergal hissed at that. “Be happy that you are not under my command or I would have sent you to some forgotten rock far from combat, human.” With that, Nergal exited the room while Arthro stood there absorbing Nergal’s words.


	4. Prelude to a Dream

_Nighttime fell over the fields of a distant world. A small group of people were gathering together for some kind of ceremony. All were dressed in white robes, and everyone was currently talking among themselves, with many of them seemingly having a good time._

_However at least one in the crowd was not really paying attention. One little girl just seemed lost in all the commotion. She spent the time aimlessly going through the forest of strangers when she was not being interrupted to talk to them. The only other she could recognize was her grandfather, but he was the one who was leading the event, so he was busy._

_It was pretty clear that she didn’t want to be there. She didn’t even know what this ceremony was even about. But she was told that it was tradition, and that it was expected of someone of her status. But to her, like many recent things, it mostly translated as it going to be really long and boring. But it was too late now, and as the family heir she might as well try to pretend that she knows what she is doing lest she brings dishonor to the family or something._

_So continued her walk through the crowd to pass the time, that was until she finally saw a familiar face. Also perusing through the crowd was a boy who was the same age as her and with black hair. She recognized him from her classes, although admittedly they rarely interacted outside of school so she wasn’t expecting that he would recognize her. So, it came as a surprise that upon seeing her, the boy gave a friendly wave. He then made his way through the crowd to get closer to her._

_The boy started the conversation. “Hey.”_

_“Hey.” She tried her best to keep her composure and try not to look overly surprised. “What are you doing here?” She passively remembered something about him being from another house, but she thought it was of minor standing._

_If the question came across as aggressive, it fell on deaf ears on the boy’s end. “I was forced to be here. Came here last year, and with dad offworld I have to ‘represent the family’.”_

_Eventually, the two continued to discuss various things; how was their day, what did they do after school, which teacher’s voice has given them nightmares, and so forth. As time went on, the girl began to think about how much she enjoyed the boy’s company. TShe even laughed at some of his jokes._

_The boy managed to snap the girl away from her thoughts with a question, “Hey, you wanna get away from here?”_

_The girl was a bit apprehensive. “Huh? Wouldn’t the others notice that we’ll be gone? Also, I don’t think that my grandpa would like it if I just leave.”_

_Realizing of what she meant, the boy quickly reassured her. “Don’t worry. The adults wouldn’t notice. Done it last year and managed to sneak out without anyone caring. Not even my dad had a clue, and he was sitting next to me. Plus, I just want to show you something. It’s close enough that we can still see everybody. And we can quickly run back if we need to.”_

_The girl was still in doubt. She didn’t want to get into trouble, and this felt like a big deal if her talks with grandpa were anything to go by. However, a way out of a long, drawn out ceremony seemed appealing. On top of that it would give her a chance to hang out with the boy more. She figured that her familial responsibilities could wait for the time being._

_The boy led her to the nearby hills, using only one of the ceremonial candles to light the way, being careful not to give away their position to the adults down below. The girl was trying her best to catch up, but the rocks were not making it easy. Not to mention having longer robes than him as well as uncomfortable shoes. Eventually, the boy stopped on top of the highest hill and extended his hand to help the girl finish the climb. The sight she saw was peacefully calm. She could hear the soft crashing of waves from the nearby beach, and off in the distance was the lights of the city in the distance which surprisingly didn’t obscure the night sky full of stars._

_She just wanted to savor the moment. It had been a long while since she had a quiet moment all to herself. Far away from the responsibilities forced on her as of late. Far from the constant lectures of how to be a proper lady and future head of the house. Far from the constant reminders of the fact that they are no longer … maybe not everything can be solved with just peace and quiet. She noticed a tear falling down her face and quickly did her best to clean it off. She didn’t need this right now, knowing that they won’t be coming back: mom, dad._

_The boy gently placed his hand on her shoulder. When she turned towards him, she saw a worried look on his face. “You okay?”_

_The girl tried her best to calm down before giving her answer. “Yeah, it’s nothing. You wanted to show me something?”_

_Grabbing her hand, he led her to a small hole that was nearby a tree sapling and nearly covered with grass. At first the girl wasn’t impressed, until the boy cleared away some dirt at which a green light began to emanate from it. She never seen anything like it, nor had she read it from the myriad of books that she had to read. She turned to the boy wanting an answer. “What is it?”_

_The boy just shrugged. “I don’t know. But it’s fun to play with.” He showed this by holding his hand just above the hole at which point it sent out little bolts of green electricity towards his hand. However, instead of shocking him, his laughter indicated a more tickling feeling. He then took her hand again and placed it towards the hole which led to additional green lightning to go towards her hand. The tickling sensation caused her to giggle, and her turning and moving her hand and fingers around did nothing to interrupt the lightning coming out._

_The boy continued. “Found this last year, and I come back every now and then whenever I’m bored.”_

_“And you wanted to show me this because?”_

_The boy just shrugged. “Thought that you were a cool person to show this with.”_

_The girl felt a bit happy at the thought. “Well, tell me the next time you want to come here. We could make this into a secret spot, just the two of us.” She did not realize what she just said as she tilted her head in confusion when the boy had to turn away. She barely missed the redness that crept onto his face._

_Following that the boy tried his best to act cool about it. “Uh, yeah. Sure. Whenever you feel like it would be alright.” He then remembered that he left out the best part. “Oh, one more thing. I need you to sit at the other side.” After the girl did what he said, he continued. “If you relax and concentrate for a bit, you can actually here the hole talking.”_

_The girl was skeptical about this but since she was here, she might as well try it. She copied what the boy was doing; sitting cross legged, hands together, and eyes closed. A few breaths in and she hasn’t heard a thing. A little bit later, after clearing her mind a bit more, she started to hear faint whispers. As she concentrated on what the whispers were saying, the voices grew slightly louder. Eventually she was able to make out one word, “Protect.”_

 

* * *

 

 

Wren immediately woke up, nearly jumping out of her chair before rubbing her eyes while waiting for them to return to optimal performance. When she looked up, it took her a minute to remember where she was. Then it dawned on her that she was sitting in the pilot’s chair all by herself, everyone else was either asleep or doing something else on the ship. She didn’t know if this was either good or bad. These flashes were becoming more frequent. And if the latest one was any indication, it seemed that she was now glimpsing at someone else’s life. None of this made sense to her. She was a machine, built and programmed to be a pilot. Who would have thought putting random flashes into her was a good idea?

Looking at the room, she wondered if she should tell anyone about this. The visions were already freaking her out as it is, and they now seem to be getting worse. Maybe someone on the ship could figure out what is going on. Maybe … no, she would most likely be sent for away for diagnostics and repair, far from the Rangers and at worst be considered worthy for decommissioning. This seemed to be far from the occasional glitch and she doesn’t want to be separated from the only family that she has known. No, she would figure out a way to control this on her own. With the resources of the ship it seemed like a possibility.

Wren turned around and went back to focusing on steadying the ship. That was when she heard a familiar sound behind her. Turning around, she saw the Orb Detector signaling to the location of a new Cosmic Orb.


	5. A Dream on Pink Wings

From out of the blackness of space, the Rangers’ Ship exited out of another jump, ready to take on any foe. The Rangers that were on deck, not so much. All the organic members were holding onto anything that was bolted down, as they all appeared nearly drained with their legs ready to give out. Even the robots weren’t in any better shape as all three just seemed to just want the trip to stop.

Fenris was currently resting his hands and head on top of one of the railings with Aurox by his side. “Please tell me that’s the last one.”

Lance, leaning on the back of his chair, raised his head. “If we’re lucky, that ought to be.”

Everyone just looked at the Orb Detector in silence. For a brief few seconds, everyone’s hopes were raised. That was until the Detector started to flash again causing everyone to collapse and groan in defeat. Millie was barely able to push herself off the floor, having to use the rail columns to hold herself up. “Seriously!? That was the eighth jump in the last two hours. Can’t the thing just give us a break?”

Velspro was slumped down by the stairs that led to the table at the center of the deck. “I agree. Doing this many jumps this quickly does not do wonders to our health.” He turned his head and winced, trying to ignore Ray spilling his guts out at a nearby trashcan.

Jin, having quickly gotten up from lying down on the floor, couldn’t take it anymore. “While we wouldn’t be in this predicament if it wasn’t for two things that spring to mind.”

Wren spun around the pilot’s chair and innocently defended herself. “It’s not my fault. I’m only jumping us to where the Detector wants us to go.”

“Then it’s this hunk of junk.” Jin then went to loudly bang on the Detector. “We’ve been following its exact coordinates and all it does is keep telling us to go straight.”

Commander Pendros, having his face planted on the table, raised it and then turned to where the Detector indicated. Interestingly it pointed towards the pilot’s chair. Pendros started to have an idea before shaking his head. “You’re probably right and considering that none of us are in the best shape, I suggest that we take a break. Wren, is there a habitable planet nearby?”

“There is one, but it’s under Jack Matter’s control.”

“Guess that’s going to have to do.” With that he pointed to Lance, Fenris, Aurox, Millie, and Velspro. “I want you five to go down to the planet and do a supply run.” The five, when they were able to finally stand up, complied and made their way to the door. Pendros then turned towards Ray and Jin. “You two stay here and try to fix the bloody thing. Also, there is another project I want you to do afterwards.”

Jin was helping Ray up when he asked the natural question. “I assume that breaking this into a million pieces is out of the question?”

“There’s a manual under the table.” Wren waved as she was paying the least amount of attention as possible with Pendros’ orders. Every time something like this happens it was always the same; stay behind and pilot the ship, nothing else. Which then brought back memories of being in the fight with Lance, which at least got her out of the ship. Strangely enough the more she thought about it, the more the memory appealed to her more. Sure, she spent most of the time dodging enemy fire, but it still felt exhilarating.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Wren’s mind drifted off towards something else. She suddenly saw an open blue sky, and off in the distance was a pink figure who seemed to be giggling. A quick flash drew Wren closer and that’s when she saw that the figure was a pink Power Ranger who was supported by two large pink wings. The Ranger was enjoying herself as she performed various aerial tricks and taking down her foes with ease. Curious as to who this mysterious Ranger was, Wren’s question was answered with the next flash. The Ranger took off her helmet to reveal Wren’s face, giving off a happy expression upon doing so. And with that Wren snapped back to reality, thinking about what just happened. “Ok, that was weird.”

She then heard Pendros’ voice. “Wren, I need to speak to you.” Getting up, Wren could only think of what the commander wanted. Probably another report to compile. But strangely enough, Pendros threw her for a curveball. “I need you to go down to the planet as well.”

“…What?”

“But of course. I have full confidence that you will be able to carry this mission out. This is not one to be taken lightly, as it is a matter of great importance that I can only entrust to you.”

Wren was still processing what the commander was saying. But what she had been picking up was surely enticing. She was filled with hope and glee as she continued to hear the commander’s speech. She could have sworn to feel massive glimmers shining in her eyes.

That was until Pendros revealed what the mission was about. “I need you to bring me some plums.”

Wren’s hopes and dreams just seemed to shatter at that moment. “Uh… what?”

“I have a bet going on with one of the other cells about if there was any fruit that has a darker complexion than mine.” The commander smiled while pointing to his purple skin. “If you could prove that not even the plums are as purple as me you can settle this bet once and for all, and save me twenty Space Bucks.”

If Wren had the necessary parts, her face would have clearly expressed pent up rage. “Plums,” she thought, “The commander’s sending me down just for plums? For a bet!?” The Rangers were already going down there so what’s the point of sending her? Fortunately, or unfortunately, she knew better than to smack Pendros then and there. With that she just sighed. “Affirmative sir.”

 

* * *

 

 

The Rangers had landed in the mountains at the outskirts of town. As such, they had to travel the long way by foot. The long walk was rather calming all things considered. Just a winding dirt road surrounded by all sides by flat green plains. Not that most of the Rangers seemed to notice. Velspro was checking the list of the ship’s supplies, Lance and Aurox mostly just focused on the path ahead, and Fenris was more bored of the fact that there were no Jack Matter forces nearby to fight. Millie was the only one that seemed to appreciate the scenery around them. It had been a while since the Rangers could just go to a planet without having to do some official business. And the mere idea of being able of being on another world always intrigued her, even if many of the worlds the Rangers traveled to seemed to be the same. For a brief second, Millie closed her eyes and took a deep breath, enjoying the idea of breathing in fresh, alien air while feeling the wind blow through her blond hair.

Still feeling bored, Fenris tilted his head back so that the rest of the group appeared upside down. “So, how long is the grocery list this time?”

Velspro lifted his head from looking at the list. “Actually, it doesn’t look like we need much down here. Asides from some redundant food stocks, nothing serious. Should be a quick and easy in and out.”

“In other words, another dull errand hunt,” Fenris huffed.

Lance tried to cheer him up. “Don’t be so down. We could just fight off Jack Matter’s forces on the side while down here.” Millie and Velspro just glanced at each other hearing that. Both were not willing to do a repeat of Onyx. As such, Millie tried to change the subject. “There might be something interesting to see down here. After all, there’s a whole planet for us to explore. And we don’t know how long it’ll be for the Detector to be fixed.”

Fenris felt to counteract that suggestion. “Look around you. There is close to nothing in this green open space. If I learned that the planet was this barren I would have just stayed on the ship.”

It was when the Rangers passed by a farm that they heard some crates crashing followed by an audible groan. Turning to the source of the noise, they saw a man chasing after what could be best described as creatures that looked like a cross between a lizard and a chicken. It was walking on all fours, with its back legs looking like a chicken’s and its forearms appearing to be wings. They were mostly covered in scales aside from the head, neck, tail, and upper portion of the legs which were covered by feathers. And on the creatures’ head were prominent red combs and a beak on each of the creatures’ mouth.

“It’s probably best that we help him don’t you agree?” Lance said as he made his way to the farm. He was soon followed by Aurox who agreed with the Red Ranger, while Fenris came along just to break up the monotony of walking the endless pathway.

“Well, it’s something.” Millie couldn’t think of what else to say about the situation.

Velspro shrugged it off. “I mean, it wouldn’t hurt. Plus, the list is short so might as well do something in the meantime.” With that, the Aquitian followed suit.

Millie couldn’t find an objection to that. Also, as a Ranger, they are meant to save the day. No matter how small or absurd it would be. As such she joined them.

The farmer managed to tackle one of the creatures to the ground as another one close to him ran off. Only for it to go into Lance’s hands as he picked it up. “Need a hand?” he asked.

The farmer was elated at the proposal. “Thanks, that will be a big help. Just pick them up and put them into the coop.” With that the others went on to catch the remaining creatures. As they gathered them up, the farmer noticed the morpher on Lance’s wrist. “You guys are Power Rangers.” This caused everyone to pause for a moment, not quite knowing what to do next. Upon realizing of what they were afraid of, the farmer laughed it off. “Oh, don’t worry. I’m not going to tell anyone. Too far off to bother anyway.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, the Rangers went back to work. However, when Fenris got a hold of one of the creatures, his fingers were too close to the thing’s mouth and it bit him. “Nasty little things. How can anyone deal with them?”

The farmer took the one from Fenris, and lead it back into the coop. “Yeah, should have warned you about that. Monitor chickens tend to have a nasty attitude when they are being ordered around. Real pain in the neck if you ask me.”

Millie just continued to pet the monitor chicken in her arms. “I take it that you’re not a fan of them.”

“Only when their food. Sadly, I’m a cooper, so it’s my job to take care of them.”

Velspro was confused at that remark. “Wait, I thought a cooper was someone who worked on barrels.”

The cooper sighed. “Oh, they do. It’s just that well, the planetary governor has a ‘unique’ way of placing people in their preferred fields. As such, I’ve been put in charge of the monitor chicken coops around here.”

The Rangers looked at each other baffled by what the farmer just said. Lance continued, “Have you ever tried to tell him no?”

“Trust me I tried. But the governor believes that everyone has a specific job to do and just laughs off any other suggestions.” As he said that, the cooper led the last of the creatures into the door of the coop before closing the door. “Thanks again for the help. And once again, you don’t have to worry about me. Figured that you might beat some sense into the guy.”

Lance returned the gratitude. “We appreciate it. Although, we would appreciate it more if you can tell us if we’re anyway close to town.”

The cooper pointed towards the road. “It’s a little more than a mile that way. Maybe another fifteen to twenty minutes.” This just gave Fenris an accuse to groan again.

 

* * *

 

 

Sometime later, the Rangers finally managed to reach the town and proceeded on their grocery hunt. During that time, the Rangers continued to hear stories like the cooper’s; that is, they were given roles that they generally were not suited to do. It was clear from the residents’ tone that they weren’t happy about it at all.

Soon the team met up at the center of town with most of them sitting while Velspro took a final check of the list. They mostly talked about the various stories they heard. This got to the point in which they heard one of Fenris’s. “I heard one guy say that him being a dentist was the excuse for the governor to make him fix car dents. How does that work?”

“Badly is the correct term.” Velspro replied offhandedly.

Aurox added his two cents. “I say that we set this town free from the clutches of evil.”

“I’m afraid that it’s probably not a good idea to do so,” Velspro responded.

Lance turned around. “How can you say that? Isn’t part of being a Ranger saving the downtrodden from the monsters that would cause them pain and misery?”

Velspro just had to point out their situation. “I would like to point out that being in the middle of Jack Matter territory means that they can shoot down our ship easily if we do something that brash. And we don’t exactly know where the governor of this place is. Unless the whole place goes up in arms, it would be better to save everyone once we take out the entire Jack Matter leadership.”

“You must be really fun to be around at parties,” Lance said mindlessly.

“Velspro is just trying to think reasonably,” Millie said. “And besides, it’s not like the bad guys would show up when we want them too.”

It was then they heard Nergal’s loud, threatening voice fill the air. “You think of us so lowly that we would respond to your command?” The five looked to see where the voice came from only to see a bunch of Entroopers emerge from the alleys and other hidden places which also caused all the civilians present to scatter in different directions. As the Entroopers encircled the group, the Rangers responded by forming a circle to cover their flanks. It was then that Nergal himself came forth, along with a figure that the Rangers haven’t seen before. This one looked like a big, pink crocodile with a pot belly sticking out and with blue sheets of clothing lazily draped all over him. This creature, Pepto Blasto was quick to follow Nergal’s lead. “In fact, it was you who showed up when we wanted you to do. Now you will pay for your cattle rustling or whatever it is you people do.” This just caused confusion on Nergal’s part.

While the two still tried to make it feel like a trap was sprung. All Millie could think about was what Pepto Blasto was wearing. “I’m can’t be the only one thinking that this guy looks like he’s covered in melted ice cream, right?”

Pepto Blasto just felt offended. “Hey! I resent that remark! As such, you’ll be the first to tremble before me.”

As the enemy moved closer, Fenris brought up something. “What do you say? Should we morph?” It was then that some of the Entroopers started to charge.

Velspro was quick to respond. “No time. Just fight!” With that, all five Rangers went fighting unmorphed. All five did their best to take down the minions, often using the surrounding environment to their advantage.

At one point, Lance faced off against Nergal. Quickly dodging every swing from Nergal’s weapon. Eventually Lance got pinned to the wall by the weapon’s shaft. Nergal then began to talk with glee. “At long last. With this, our long-seeded fight will come to an end and the Power Rangers will be no more. I will return to my master’s good graces and the universe will tremble before me!”

It was then with a slight confusion that Lance realized something. “Who are you again?”

Nergal growled at his opponent’s cluelessness of him. He then pushed Lance to the ground with his weapon before using it to fire an energy slash at Lance. Fortunately for the Red Ranger, he managed to dodge the attack before standing up again and started fighting again.

The other Rangers managed to fend off the enemy well on their own. At one point, Aurox grabbed an Entrooper before spouting a line, “Ready to be a shooting star?” He then hurled the Entrooper up in the air, over the roofs, and who knows where.

 

* * *

 

 

At another part of town, Wren was walking with her head down towards the ground and just not feeling great. Not from the plums, she managed to find those rather easily. This was mostly from the fact that Pendros sent her to do something so mundane and pointless. “Could have gotten these from any planet that we stopped at,” Wren muttered, “but no, it has to be from this one specific world while the others have more important things to do.”

She was also thinking about her being stuck in her role; as the pilot and as the glorified errand girl. While it didn’t feel as much of a problem for the past five years she was online, recently it all just seemed so mundane. Something inside her just felt like she could do more. Maybe that was why fighting alongside the Rangers became more alluring. But what did she know? She knew she was programmed to be a pilot robot. Besides, it was not like an opportunity like that would just fall from the sky.

It was then that she heard a loud crash in front of her. While the few civilians fled in separate directions, Wren came closer to see what happened. To her surprise, it was a jittering Entrooper lying in the rubble of an abandoned building. Using her optics, Wren was able to scan the area to determine the trajectory and where the hapless minion came from. Having an idea of where it came from, Wren decided to investigate with the help of her jet boots. Although she was able to fly with greater control as opposed to last time, there were a few times in which she almost collided with the roofs.

Landing on the top of a nearby building, Wren crouched down by a chimney to see what was going on. And sure enough it was the Rangers fighting off some of Jack Matter’s forces. Wren was just memorized by the Rangers as they fought. Their quick movements, their inhuman ability to make every hit connect, the way they were able to hold off a larger opponent. It stirred something inside the pink robot.

She then saw a defenseless boy and his parents, who didn’t get away in time, about to be attacked by some Entroopers. Without thinking, Wren flew down and started attacking the silver headed minions. Admittedly, her attacks weren’t as flashy as the Rangers’, but they clumsily managed to scare away the Entroopers. Turning to see if the family was okay, she saw elation from them before they managed to run away safely. Emboldened by this, Wren went on to fight Entroopers that were at the edge of the main fight.

During the commotion, Pepto Blasto noticed the newcomer while none of the other Rangers were paying attention. This gave him an idea. “So, a new challenger has appeared. Let’s see if she can handle this.” With a snap, his two Plantoid guards came to his side and with a wave of his hand the two aimed their club cannons at the pink robot and fired. Hearing the cannon fire, the Rangers looked towards the direction of the attack where they finally noticed that Wren appeared.

Velspro was the first to call out. “Wren!” With that, the robot realized what was going on and froze in fear.

In a moment of quick thinking, Lance grabbed two empty wooden crates and tossed them towards the direction of the cannon fire hoping that the boxes would be enough. Luckily, the crates came just in time to take both hits causing an explosion of wood and fire. The proximity of the blast caused Wren to fall backwards but at least she was safe.

This act caused the fighting to quickly die down. Pepto Blasto and Nergal regrouped to discover that most of their forces were defeated. As such Nergal ordered everyone to fall back. Before he left however, he proceeded to try to intimidate the Rangers. “Don’t think this is over Rangers. Eventually your time will end, and all will bow to the universe’s one true master.” Nergal then made his leave.

Once all the enemies were gone, the Rangers ran to Wren’s position, with both Millie and Fenris helping her up. “Are you okay?” Lance asked.

As she finally got her footing Wren responded. “Yeah. Fortunately, nothing serious.” She then started to brush the dirt off herself.

Velspro was the last to arrive, having to run to the rest of the team. “What were you thinking back there?”

Wren, not expecting that response, was at a loss of words. “I…I…I thought that I could help.”

“You know better than to jump into the middle of a fight,” the Aquitian said. “Why would you do something so stupid?” That last part just felt like a sting to Wren’s robotic heart.

Millie came to Wren’s defense. “Hey wait a minute, that’s a little bit harsh don’t you think?”

“It doesn’t matter. She needs to go back to the ship where she belongs.” Wren couldn’t take it any longer. She was on the verge of tears if she had the ability to do so. She then turned her back on the Rangers and ran before using her jet boots to fly off.

Millie tried to run after her before the robot was too far to follow. “Wren wait!” Millie turned towards the Aquitian in disapproval. “That was cold, even for you.”

The other Rangers were silent as they turned their attention from Millie to Velspro. “It’s for her own good. Come one, probably best to return to the ship.” With that, the other Rangers followed Velspro’s lead. Millie stood there for a second before following them.

 

* * *

 

 

Sometime has passed and Wren returned to the deck with plums in hand. At this point, she just wanted to get this errand over with and give the commander a piece of her mind. What she got instead was Ray and Jin arguing and groaning at the table. Upon closer inspection she saw that the two had the manual for the Detector open. However, for some reason they didn’t seem to have made any progress on fixing it. “You two having trouble fixing the Detector?”

Jin just had his hands covering his face. “Please tell me you know how to translate this stinking text.”

Wren tilted her head in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

Ray just continued to rub his two fingers along his forehead. “Whatever language this is written in is like nothing that we have come across. So right now we’re just taking a guess of what it is supposed to say.”

Jin continued. “The best we got is that this page tells us how to start opening the blasted thing.”

Wren looked over the two’s shoulders to look at the manual. What she saw was a very peculiar script. It wasn’t composed of any discernible letters or numbers. Instead it appeared as a series of circles for a lack of a better term. At the center of each was a single dot surrounded by a series of rings. On some of the rings there were some more dots that were clustered in one of four cardinal directions. Reading through some of the lines, it took the pink robot looking at the title to see where they were at. “This is just the Foreword that says you shouldn’t break it.”

Jin slammed his hands on the table in defeat realizing that most of the past few hours trying to decipher the manual were in vain. “Screw it, let’s do this my way.” The robot then readied his finger.

The commander suddenly appeared on deck and upon seeing Wren let out a loud, boisterous greeting. “Ah Wren, you have returned. I assume that the plum retrieving mission was a success?”

Given the absurdity of her mission, and what came out of it, Wren was not willing to play along with the commander. So, she marched right in front of him and said her piece. “You want your plums? Here are your plums!” She lifted the bag over Pendros’ head and showered him with plums. “And for the record, I already examined their color and none of them are as purple as you!” Wren then just stormed off the deck.

Pendros just stood there and sighed. “Well that didn’t go as well as I hoped.” It was only a few moments later that an explosion occurred on deck followed by a yell from Ray. “Jin!”

 

* * *

 

 

Both Nergal and Pepto Blasto made their way onto Blasto’s drillship, ready to give Jack Matter their report. As soon as they arrived, the giant hologram of Jack Matter appeared before them. “Good news I hope?”

Nergal knelt before the hologram before giving his answer. “Milord. My hunt has seen recent success. I have discovered that the Rangers have landed on this world.”

That was when Pepto Blasto intervened. “Wait a second, Power Rangers? I thought you said ranchers.”

Nergal just felt annoyance having to deal with this cretin. Of all the governors that could have been stationed here the only one present was one who couldn’t tell left from right. “Well what reason would I have for something as insignificant as some random ranchers? Maybe if you pay better attention to the finer details you would have done something on this rock.”

Pepto Blasto tried his best to defend himself. “Hey, I managed to give my people the work that they were meant for. Besides, it’s not my fault that there are a bunch of words that sound too much alike. I swear, once I get a few more worlds I will simplify the language to use less of these fancy-schmancy words.”

Jack Matter was quick to crush that dream. “And what makes you think that I will give you more planets to use when you can barely manage one? You control the worst run planet under my command and I’m getting sick and tired of it. You’re going to need to give me better results before I consider finding your replacement.”

Pepto Blasto was cowering when Jack Matter was saying that only to give out a low whimper in response. “Yes milord. I’ll do better for now on.”

Nergal smiled at Blasto’s dismay. But that was before Jack Matter turned his eyes onto Nergal. “As for you. So you’ve located the Rangers. Does that also mean that you’ve destroyed them, or at the very least captured one of them?”

Nergal grew wide-eyed at the rebuttal and just started stuttering. Jack Matter was not amused and sighed. “I thought that you could handle this Nergal. But since that is clearly not the case, maybe I should look for your replacement as well.”

Nergal was desperate to work his way out of his master’s disappointment. “B…But milord. It has just been difficult to subdue them with the time that you provided.”

Jack Matter was having none of it. “I have given you all this time in universe to stop the Rangers and all I see is that they multiply as if to mock me.”

Nergal responded meekly. “It has only been a month.”

“What did you say!?” The anger Jack Matter expressed at that moment was so powerful that even in hologram form it shook the room Nergal and Blasto were in.

Nergal was quick to bury his comment. “N…Nothing milord. It must have been the air ventilation in here. I will have it scrubbed at once sir.”

Jack Matter just let it slide while he cooled his temper. “As always you can’t get good help when you need it. I am letting you two go for the time being, and once you come back here I expect better results.”

Nergal and Blasto quickly bowed their heads onto the floor just as the hologram began to dissipate. “Yes milord.”

 

* * *

 

 

Meanwhile, Lance, Millie, and Velspro made it back to the ship and were prepping food in the ship’s kitchen. Fenris left after a time due to him saying he wasn’t good with kitchen utensils. Aurox, due to an incident involving eggs, a beehive, and a goat years ago, has been effectively banned from entering the kitchen. The mood was mostly silent among the three, probably due to neither of them wanting to start addressing the elephant in the room.

That was until Lance started to speak. “You were being too mean to Wren back there.”

Velspro sighed at that remark. “I was trying to make sure that she is safe.”

The Red Ranger just scoffed. “By belittling her? I get that she may not be the best trained fighter, but she can handle herself.” While saying this, Lance remembered back when Wren fought alongside him and his duplicate as evidence enough.

Velspro stopped what he was doing and placed his hands onto the table suddenly. “Look, she’s a pilot bot. She was not made to fight. She has to serve the purpose she was meant for.”

“You’re one to talk.” Velspro turned to Millie who made the comment. She just had her head down, slowly peeling her potato, and not giving her full attention to the conversation. Velspro did his best to ignore that comment and continued. “Point being is that she’s the only one who could fly the ship. If she’s gone, we would be in trouble.”

Lance was surprised at that and looked at both Velspro and Millie. “You mean you haven’t tried to fly in her place?”

The blonde and the Aquitian both looked at each other uneasily before Millie answered uneasily. “‘Try’ is not the best word we would use.” Over the years the two have tried to learn how to fly the ship with Wren doing her best to instruct them. But every time they took the pilot’s seat it just seemed like the controls were out to get them. Any button or switch Wren would normally use would either break or do something it was not supposed to. Eventually the two decided to not lay a finger on the controls ever again. The attempts for other people to pilot were of mixed success. Commander Pendros, in one of his more rational moods, tried to fly it only for the controls to suddenly reverse themselves and nearly hurled them into a star. Surprisingly, Aurox seemed to be able to control the ship just fine, aside from the numerous occasions where his big fingers would lead to multiple button presses.

After hearing that Lance continued. “Anyway, it is just not right to keep her from trying something that she wants to do.”

“Lance is right.” Millie commented, despite how much that seemed wrong in her head.

“We should just take her to every mission we go to for now on.”

This was not quite what Millie meant. “Now wait just a second.”

Velspro stood up at Lance’s proposition, hands firmly on the table and seemingly a little frustrated. “Didn’t you hear the part about Wren being the only one able to control the ship?”

Lance stood to face his opponent. “Well then try the others. With luck someone has to able to fly it.”

“She’s not even a Ranger.”

“That didn’t stop me, and I was able to handle myself just fine before getting an orb.”

“You had a sword with you!”

“You’ll be surprised how useful jet boots are in battle.”

It was at this point that the Red and Yellow Rangers got into an argument of jumbled words. Millie just stood there watching the two argue, turning to either Velspro or Lance when one of them was talking. She did try to voice her opinion on the matter, but it has had fallen on deaf ears. Eventually she let out a huff before putting her stuff down and went for the door, neither of the two apparently aware that she left.

Walking towards the deck, Millie saw Ray and Jin coming her way. Considering what has been going on lately, some good news would be nice. “Please tell me that you managed to fix the Detector.”

Jin answered first. “I’m sad to say but no.”

Ray followed. “The manual beat us into submission, so we decided to go do the commander’s pet project and hope it’s easier.”

Millie stood there as she remembered something. “Wait, I thought Jin had electrical powers. Why can’t he just hack into the Detector and see what’s wrong?”

“Oh I tried.” The golden robot showed her his right arm only to reveal that there was just a socket where his right forearm should be. Ray then revealed he was holding onto the missing forearm. “I got hit by a feedback so strong that I got thrown towards the back wall.”

“We’re just lucky that his entire arm didn’t just exploded when it did.”

Millie stood there wide-eyed and taking a mental note of never putting drinks next to the thing ever again. “Anyway, I’m looking for Wren. Is she on the deck?”

Ray answered. “No, she left after yelling at the commander. Don’t have any idea where she went.”

“I think I know.” Millie left the two to their own devices while she proceeded to Wren’s room. Standing in front of the door, Millie knocked on the door. She heard Wren giving a flat response. “What?”

“It’s me. Can I come in?” The door opened by itself, allowing Millie to enter. Walking in, she was reminded of how bare Wren’s room was. Being the only one who knew how to fly the ship meant that she spent most of her time around the deck. The only reason that this was her room at all was that she insisted when the other Rangers got theirs. The room had nothing noteworthy to show; the walls were bare, the desk has been left mostly untouched, and from past encounters there was nothing in the drawers. It wasn’t from a lack of trying. Over the years Millie and Velspro tried to decorate her room with whatever interest she had at the time, only for the room to be empty again as she said that it just didn’t feel right.

Looking towards the bed, Millie saw Wren just laying on top of the bed staring at the ceiling. Pulling the desk chair closer to the bed, Millie tried her best to cheer the robot up. “Hey, you alright?”

Wren tilted her head to look at Millie. Seeing her concerned face and blonde ponytail, Wren just sighed. “No. I’m not alright. I feel like the universe is playing one huge joke on me.”

“Why would you say that?”

Wren held up her hand and started counting fingers. “Let’s see. Making me constantly jump the ship to no end, being sent down to the planet to settle some stupid bet the commander had, and let’s not forget how Velspro telling me off for trying to help in the fight.”

Millie didn’t really have anything for that last point. “He was trying to protect you. In his rather blunt way.”

Wren sat back up and placed her face in her hands. “Don’t know why I even bother. I’m a pilot bot, plain and simple. I’m not built for fighting.”

Millie kept feeling sorry for her. She hadn’t seen Wren this depressed in a while, and she had no idea how to approach this. “Not trying to be mean but what brought this up? You never had an interest to fight before.”

Wren quietly groaned at herself upon hearing that. She was thinking that she was going to regret bringing this up, but she couldn’t think of any other way to talk her way out of this. “Well, seeing you guys out there from the deck lately just brought up something within me. Not to mention that I have been having dreams lately and in one of those, it was me fighting and enjoying it.”

“Dreams?”

Wren flinched at that moment. “See! You think that it is stupid! Please don’t send me away for diagnosing.”

“No, no.” Millie tried to reassure her. “It’s just that this is the first time I heard you mention them. Speaking of which, did you see what the other dreams were about?”

Wren let herself drop back onto the bed. “I’m not sure. All the other ones I can remember make no sense to me. Just a bunch of things happening without me knowing what they mean. I’ve been getting more of them lately and I just hope that it doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with me.” Wren sighed. “But who am I kidding of course there is something wrong. I’m just a pilot bot, I’m not built to fight.”

“Well, it just seems like you have not been given the chance to try.”

Wren looked at her skeptically. “Did you not hear the part where I was not made for fighting?”

Millie shrugged. “To be fair none of us ever thought of being Rangers from the start. Velspro and I found you after getting our powers. Aurox would not have been here if not for what happened to the doctor. Ray and Jin were criminals if you remember. Fenris would still be living alone if it weren’t for Lance. And Lance, I have no idea what he would be doing.” Millie then muttered under her breath, “Although he probably would have lucked his way into his powers no matter what.” Getting back on topic, she turned her attention back to the robot. “Point is, we all chose to be Rangers, and if you want to choose to fight then you should be able to do so.” Millie then placed her hand on Wren’s knee. “And don’t worry about the others knowing about these dreams. You’re secret’s safe with me.”

The two suddenly heard Ray’s voice coming from the intercoms. “The commander wants all five of you to go back onto the planet until further noticed. No explanation why but he did say that it was important.” Soon after that there was a huge metallic clang coming from the speakers followed by the sound of flames and Jin screaming. With the speakers still on, Ray spoke, but this time it was clearly meant for Jin and not the Rangers, “Just grab the fire extinguisher and put it out.” The intercoms were then turned off.

Millie took a silent breath before getting up from her chair and made her way to the door. But before she went out the door, she turned towards Wren. “Aren’t you gonna come?”

“You’re sure about that? What if I screw up like this time?”

“You did nothing wrong last time.” Millie then extended her hand towards Wren. “And besides, this time I’ll be there for you.”

The robot hesitated for a moment, not wanting to cause anymore trouble. But she trusted her friend and as such grabbed her hand as the blonde led her out of the room.

 

* * *

 

 

Back on the planet there was a congregation gathering in town. Pepto Blasto was standing on top of a platform in the middle of town square, surrounded by his Plantoid bodyguards while Nergal was at ground level feeling rather indifferent about the whole ordeal. The Rangers have made their way through the crowd, making sure that they wouldn’t be easily identified. Though in Aurox’s case that meant sitting on his knees. Millie and Wren had just arrived and managed to reach the others.

A little out of breath, Millie spoke. “Did we miss anything?”

Aurox responded. “Nope. They had just been standing there the whole time.”

Velspro turned to Millie before realizing that she brought Wren down with her too. “What is Wren doing down here?”

Millie just said, “I’ll tell you later. Besides I think something’s about to happen.”

It was then that Pepto Blasto began to speak. “Citizens, it has come to my attention that I have not done better for you. Many of you are still without work and that has left less smiles than I had hoped. Well that changes today. Starting today I will do my best to make sure that everyone is given the work that is best for them. And my first act into doing this would be to reopen the mines.”

There caused a large amount of small talk among the crowd, with many remembering the back-breaking labor that was involved in the mines.

Blasto continued. “As such, I will begin to get the right people for the job. Guards, go get me some minors.”

With that the two Plantoids went and with the help of the Entroopers made their way through the crowd to pick people for the mines. However, it turns out the crowd thought that Blasto meant ‘miners’ as the foot soldiers started grabbing kids. This caused the crowd to go into a frenzy as parents desperately tried to prevent their children from being taken away. This soon led to a riot as random people started to punch and overpower the foot soldiers. Due to the chaotic nature of the situation, the Rangers got separated from each other as each of them were trying to not get trampled.

Still battling his opponents, Lance gave his comment. “I say now would be a good time to morph.” The others seemed to agree as everyone else grabbed their orbs and morphed into their Ranger suits before resuming the fight.

During all of this, Wren spotted the two parents from earlier trying to hold onto their son as one of the Plantoids was trying to drag him away. She shouted towards their direction which grabbed the Plantoid’s attention. This caused the kid to slip out of the monster’s grasp and started to run off while his parents got lost in the crowd. The Plantoid turned back towards the kid and ran after him with Wren following them.

“Wren!” Velspro shouted. Looking for the others. “Guys we have to go after her!” He then sprinted towards the pink robot.

Millie was the only other one who managed to get out of her fight and follow. Lance tried to follow, but he was soon occupied by one of the other Plantoids to be of any help.

Sometime later the boy was still running from his monstrous pursuers. That was until Pepto Blasto, Nergal, and his Plantoid pursuer appeared from out of the corner, blocking the boy’s path. Nergal then grabbed the boy’s arm and lifted him up. “Time to end this farce of yours Blasto. Get your rabble in order so that I can end the Rangers.”

Blasto was a bit peeved at Nergal for that. “Now hold on there, I think my angry mob are as much of a danger to us as are the Rangers.”

Nergal fought back. “I was granted a special decree from Jack Matter to safeguard hi dominion. And I won’t let your pesky rabble-rousing stop me from proceeding.”

This just set off Blasto to argue some more. “You think that your fancy words would impress me? Well they aren’t and they are just confusing me even more.”

The two’s bickering caused Wren to finally catch up, though Wren was more visibly out of breath. “Hold it right there.” Wren tried to act forceful at that moment, but her breathing led it to fail badly.

Nergal refocused his attention to Wren with the boy still at hand. “And what good would you do? It is clearly obvious that you’re not suited to fight on this kid’s behalf.” He then motioned the Plantoid to fire its cannon which caused Wren to fall onto the ground.

Velspro and Millie also managed to catch up and were able to assess the situation. Velspro then shouted towards Wren. “Wren get out of there! You’re going to get hurt.”

When the Yellow Ranger took a step forward, he was stopped by Millie who tried to counsel him. “Let her do this.”

“But… they will…”

The Green Ranger placed herself in front of Velspro, face to face, with some desperation in her voice. “I get that you care for her. But just this once can you let her do something on her own?” With that, Velspro swallowed his pride and continued to watch.

Wren saw the two Rangers’ commotion only to be snapped back by Nergal’s laughter. “Listen to him girl. This isn’t your place.” Nergal then aimed his weapon at the boy. “Why don’t you just run along and leave the fight to others?”

It was then that something in Wren just clicked. At that moment she didn’t seem so nervous anymore and she started to get up. “No. I’m not defined by any role you or anyone else decide to give me. No matter what, despite what everyone else would think, I am able to decide what I can and cannot do.” As she said this, the pink robot felt a sudden surge of energy flowing through her. “And if I choose to save this boy, then you will know full well that is what I’m going to do.”

Nergal smirked at that and aimed his weapon at the bot. “How pitiful. To think so highly of yourself yet not knowing that you’re wrong.”

It was then Wren felt a sharp increase of energy coming from with her. She was then surrounded by green lightning which then directed into two directions. Both of which went to her hands. One her left hand, it formed into a morpher while on her right hand it formed into a pink orb that had the image of an eagle on it. Wren was at a loss of words.

Meanwhile, Velspro and Millie were also taken aback at what happens. That was until Velspro began to speak. “I can’t believe it. So, Wren is-”

“The one the Detector was looking for.” Millie muttered as she finished Velspro’s thoughts.

This just infuriated Nergal. “I will not let another Ranger appear on my watch. He and the Plantoid then fired their weapons toward Wren.

The pink robot froze at the sight of the blast just like before, until she heard the two Rangers telling her to morph. As such she quickly placed the orb into her blaster morpher and began the sequence. “Cosmic powers, Activ…” The rest was obscured by the blast making its mark.

For a second, Velspro and Millie feared the worst. That was until a large pair of pink wings sprouted forward before reeling back in a flash of light. Out of the rubble stood a Pink Ranger with prominent pink feathered wings from her back and a stylized eagle as her visor. The newfound Ranger finally assessed what just occurred and as she looked down, she realized that it wasn’t a dream. She squealed in delight at the Ranger suit now covering her; the bright colors, the skirt, the spandex. She looked at her two adversaries in confidence. “Now then, you’re bringing that boy back.”

While Blasto was at a loss for words, Nergal grew even angrier. “I like to see you try.” Nergal fired another energy slash but this time Wren dodged it by flying with the use of her wings. She flew towards Nergal while firing her blaster at Nergal’s weapon, disarming him. She then landed directly onto Nergal while grabbing the boy before flying off, using the kick and resulting gust of wind to knock the commander off balance. Landing at a safe distance, Wren put the boy down and tried to reassure him. “Are you okay?” The boy gave a smile and nod before giving her a hug which warmed the robot dearly. “Go on, find your parents and stay out of trouble.” The boy did as he was told.

Wren then flew back towards the commander and governor to resume the fight. Nergal managed to knock some sense back into Pepto Blasto and along with the Plantoid, began to fire at her. However due her wings, Wren was able to easily dodge the attacks. A sudden twitch of the orb revealed that her weapon was a pistol to work in conjunction with her morpher, allowing her to quickly rain fire at her foes.

It was then that the other Rangers turned up. Lance was the first to speak. “You guys have any trouble here?” Velspro just shook his head and pointed the others at the fight that was commencing.

“Is that the young pilot?” Aurox asked.

Millie corrected him. “No, she’s not the pilot. She’s a Ranger.”

The team then received a transmission from Jin. “Good news guys. We managed to complete the commander’s secret project which will help us out.”

Ray followed Jin’s assertion. “We can now have the other orbs teleported to us using our belts. It should allow us to get the orbs that are best suited for our situation.”

While still in flight, Wren was the first to test that. Pressing the button on her belt allowed an orb to appear. One that had a telescope engraved in it. Placing the orb into her morpher, it revealed a holographic scope to appear on both of her weapons which she turned towards Blasto. “Let’s see you dodge this.” With both hands at the trigger, she fired two blasts that were dead set onto their target. Fortunately for Blasto, he dragged the Plantoid in front of him to take both blasts, completely destroying the minion while leaving him flying.

Picking Blasto up, Nergal signaled for them to fall back. But not before Blasto summoned his drillship. “Let’s see you face against this.” The ship then transformed into a giant robot and was aiming towards the giant crowd of people. Fortunately, the Rangers began to summon their Zords during the ship’s transformation. This included the newcomer’s Zord which was a pink eagle.

Wren offered her advice to the rest of the team. “I would like to see what this Zord is capable of.”

Lance agreed. “Lucky for you, so do I. Let’s bring this together guys.” As such the Constellation Megazord was formed; with the Taurus and Lycan Zords forming the legs and the Swordfish and Eagle Zords forming the arms. At first, the drillbot was on the offensive, thrusting its spear constantly only to be deflected by the Eagle Zord’s wings. When the robot was readying another strike, it left an opening which the Rangers used by striking the robot’s chest with the Eagle Zord’s wings. The Rangers then ended the fight by imitating the motion of drawing a bow using the Swordfish and Eagle Zords which caused an energy bow to appear alongside the Megazord’s arms. The Rangers released the energy arrow which strike the robot and destroying it, causing the Rangers to celebrate.

 

* * *

 

 

On Nergal’s drillship, Nergal and Pepto Blasto were in complete panic. Not only did they screwed up their jobs, there’s now an additional Ranger to deal with.

Blasto was the first to comment on the situation. “This is bad. Really, really bad.”

Nergal grew desperate to save his own hide. “Bad for you. You’re the one who lost their station.”

“Don’t put this all on me. You didn’t help me at all to restore order. Now the whole planet is in revolt.”

This soon devolved into another argument between the two. What neither seemed to realize from their bickering was that a hologram of Jack Matter materialized behind them. Their master gave them a fake cough which scared the two into attention. And from Jack Matter’s expression it was clear that he figured out what the situation was, leaving him rather apathetic. He also began to look at his fingers while he spoke. “Ah you two are back. I assume that both of your managed to complete your tasks like I told you to do?”

Pepto Blasto went to his knees to grovel. “Well milord, it seems that the world had risen in revolt when I tried to enforce your glorious rule.” Jack Matter raised an eyebrow at this, but he clearly knew where this was going. Pepto Blasto continued, “And it appeared that a new Ranger had shown up-“The mention of a new Ranger gave Jack Matter the excuse he needed. In an instant, he pointed a finger towards Blasto that shot out black energy. Surprisingly, the energy went from being holographic into something more tangible as it zapped Pepto Blasto and causing him to explode.

Jack Matter sighed. “About time his failures finally caught up to him. Couldn’t even tell the difference between a dock worker and a doctor.”

Nergal stepped back from it, still feeling the heat of the explosion. He was also more terrified as he knew that he was next on the chopping block. “As for you Nergal. I had such high hopes for you. Your conquests and devotion almost granted you a place by my side. But apparently you can’t even handle a group of overbearing, over emotional teenagers.” Jack Matter fingers then began to glow black again, indicating another attack.

Nergal had to think of something quick to save his own hide. “Wait milord! Don’t be too hasty. I was only impeded by Pepto Blasto’s own antics that caused me to fail in my mission. Allow me to face them entirely at my own terms and I will show you that I’m worthy to serve.”

Jack Matter was not buying it. Still, giving Nergal another chance did allow some opportunities. After all, if he was able to pull it off then the Rangers will be no more. If not, well they would be able to do his job of getting rid of Nergal for him. Jack Matter reluctantly lowered his hand. “Very well you may be given another chance. But mark my words, if you come back to me without destroying the Rangers, the only thing you’ll be escaping from would be a smaller explosion.”

Relieved, Nergal bowed to his lord and master. “Yes milord, whatever your glory demands.” He then made his way towards the exit.

When the transmission to Nergal’s ship was terminated, Jack Matter began to press buttons on a holographic console. Once done, a voice came up waiting for Jack Matter’s orders. Expecting the worst, he began to prepare. “I need you to send a message.”

 

* * *

 

 

The Rangers have returned to their ship and were ready to celebrate. Not only have they got a new Ranger, but they saved a world as well. This was topped by Velspro coming in with a cake that he gave to Wren. This was followed by an apology. “Sorry if I came off as mean to you Wren. You do know that I was trying to protect you right?”

The robot nodded. “I know. But next time, can you at least give me a chance to explain if I want to try something new?”

The Aquitian gave a soft smile. “Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind.” He then stepped back to let the robot enjoy her cake.

“You do know that robots are unable to eat right?” Ray whispered.

“It’s the thought that counts,” Velspro responded back.

“Yes!” Pendros exclaimed. “Everything finally went according to plan.”

Jin was pessimistic at the commander’s statement. “You realized that Wren was the Pink Ranger the whole time? How?”

Fenris did his best to build up Pendros’ revelation. “He must have figured it out through his superior intellect right sir?”

“Wrong my good sir,” Pendros stated. “I figured it out just by looking at what she’s wearing.” This caused everyone to turn in bewilderment at what he just said. Wren especially tried her best to cover herself up, clearly getting the wrong idea from that.

Jin gave his two cents. “Uh sir. You might want to rephrase that for us.”

“I mean look at her. She is just screaming that she is the Pink Ranger. The others looked at Wren and then realized what Pendros meant; pink hair, pink boots, even her clothing ensemble had large areas of pink on it. Commander Pendros then pointed towards the others as they were also wearing their Ranger colors on their clothes. “And the same goes for all of you. The next world we’re stopping at you all buying different colored clothes.” There was soon a large groan coming from everyone.

Wren gave a soft smile at that before returning to the cake. It was then however that she got another flash. At first, they just seemed like a random assortment of images like before. When the images finally slowed down, it revealed the middle of a battle. It featured beasts of all shapes and forms fighting amongst themselves as dust began to cloud the vision. The dust then dissipated quickly to show another fight. This time it was between a bloodied yellow lion and a younger white lion, while a shadowy figure with blue eyes overlooked them from high above them. After that, the vision was over.

Wren quickly shook her head and found herself back onto the deck. As she looked around, Wren noticed that no one else was aware of her having an episode as they continued to talk amongst themselves. That was until she looked at Millie who noticed her staring which caused the blonde to give a concerned look. The robot did her best to nonverbally reassure Millie that nothing was wrong before turning to at last enjoy the cake.

 

* * *

 

 

Late at night, while everyone else was either asleep or too far for them to notice, Commander Pendros entered his quarters after he took a quick glance to make sure no one was looking at him. As he entered the room, he immediately went towards his desk where he opened a drawer and pressed a button. This was followed by a hologram appearing in front of him which led to a call that was audio only. The commander then heard a voice speak to him. “What’s the status of the others?”

“So far so good. We just received the Pink Ranger, so we finally have the complete set. I think it is time for a proper introduction.”

The voice at the other end faltered a bit. “You think that would be wise? What with what happened last time. Plus there is still much work to be done”

Pendros reassured his caller. “This time would be different. Though I will still have to reprimand you for the previous incident. It was too close for comfort. In addition, I’m afraid that the tides are changing. It is best to do this now while we still can. But I can assure you, when the Rangers see what is going on, they will be speechless.”

“I hope your right. Though, I do have concerns with one of them…”

“Leave that to me. All will be right with time. I will send you the briefing when the time is right. Don’t worry, I’m sure they will adore you.” With that Pendros ended the conversation. The caller, seeing that, closed his hologram before stepping out of the room with an orange stinger following him.


End file.
